Metamorphosis
by roxyhoney
Summary: Bonnie Bennett is in her last semester in college with dreams of becoming a forensic pathologist. In her second week of interning at the city morgue, a lifeless body is presented to her that changes everything she's ever known about the world she lives in, and the life she's meant to lead.
1. Chapter 1

**Another story when I have so many to work on is crazy right? Well, this idea popped into my head, and I really hope you all enjoy =) Also, it will be completely AU.**

* * *

She was trapped.

Bonnie Sheila Bennett was trapped with no way to escape. She tried looking everywhere but his captivating cerulean eyes; eyes that held hot pure desire and could burn through someone's flesh. When she reached her peak, she knew that her need for escaping was nonexistent. She felt as if she were on an endless spiral and he hadn't even entered so much as a finger inside of her.

The minute his hands lifted her up and sat her on his desk, she almost forgot that they were in his empty classroom. He hiked up her dress and his touch was like a gentle caress of hot velvet silk as they began to roam leisurely over her body. It was like she was on an invigorating high of euphoria that she never wanted to come down from.

He brought her hands to his lips and gave them a soft kiss before positioning them on his shoulders. His legs split hers apart and as his hips performed a slow grind into her waist, she couldn't help but gasp at how big he felt and he hadn't even taken his pants off yet.

His lips then began to trail along her exposed neck and she heard a soft growl escape his lips. He never once took his eyes away from hers as he removed the scrap of lace that posed for underwear, down her legs.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that she was already wet for him and had been since before he sat her on the desk. His eyes stayed on hers with fierce possession, as he used his fingers to glide along her sheath. He used two fingers to enter gently inside of her; inching in ever so slowly yet enough to make her buckle and squirm. And when his pace began to quicken, she almost lost it. He went to town on her pussy, probing and circling her clit like it was his favorite past time. She shattered into a million pieces not too long afterwards; letting out a sound between a moan and something probably a little pant, as she held onto him for dear life.

He brought the fingers that had been inside of her, into his mouth. By the expression on his face, she could tell that he was savoring her taste. And she didn't know why, but that made her skin flush with an immense amount of heat.

"Do you want me to fuck you, Bonnie?" His voice came out in an almost predatorial growl.

For a moment she wondered if she could still pronounce words, but eventually yes did escape her lips, and he was on his knees placing soft kisses along her thighs before she could process anything else. His lips were cool and commanding against her skin and every time she attempted to open her mouth to catch her breath a moan would escape. She felt him pinch her inner thigh with his teeth, just close enough to her core. She jumped at the sharpness of his teeth at first, feeling a little off guard, but then she became filled with this enormous amount of ecstasy that she never thought twice about it.

"Damon…" His name came out on an incoherent moan as she came again. This time, she was shocked because he hadn't even placed his lips on the place she wanted them to be. But whatever he was doing while sucking onto her thigh, felt like a natural high. "Please don't stop…." She was never one to beg, but damn if the sweet torture from his lips weren't fulfilling her, she didn't know what could.

His tongue handled her clit before she had time to process another thought and she cried out so loud, she didn't care if there were people working late who could hear her.

She felt weightless as he lifted her up on his shoulders rather quickly and sat her on his face. She had never experienced anything like this as he held her up in the air. He tongue fucked her like he hadn't had a good meal in years, and she came apart in the pleasure she was feeling.

She was so close to reaching her climax…..so very close ….

Bonnie's eyes opened almost violently as she jerked up in her seat, breathless, and gaining a few looks from her classmates. Her face flushed immediately as she looked back down at her notebook full of study materials for her class. She honestly didn't remember falling asleep. The last thing she was aware of was turning in her test paper and writing notes for the next chapter. And the next thing she knew she was getting her pussy ate out on the desk in the front of this particular classroom, and then she was waking up to realize it was all just some unexpected dream.

When her eyes glanced to the front of the room, Professor Damon Salvatore was looking right at her. She quickly looked away praying that he wouldn't call her out.

Lucky for her, he didn't.

"Bons, you okay?" Matt Donovan, her best friend since grade school, whispered beside her.

She nodded, not being able to find her voice just yet. Looking to her other side, she gave a soft smile to her good friend and study partner through her entire college career; Hayley Marshall. She raised her eyebrow in confusion.

Hayley wasn't the only one confused. Bonnie Bennett never fell asleep in class. And to have a dream about the new interim professor, who just started today, was extremely unlike her; especially when she was engaged to be married in another year.

Her eyes found the clock hanging on the wall in the front of the classroom, and she mentally cursed at the last hour they had left. Usually while students were still taking their test, she took the time to get ahead and work on notes for the next chapter. But, unfortunately, her mind kept going to one thing in particular.

As she tried to shrug off her unneeded horniness, she pulled out her day planner to make sure she had everything scheduled for the week and if she needed to add anything new. As she was flipping the pages to get to the correct date, she came across a quote from one of her favorite television shows that she jotted down awhile ago.

C_hange. We don't like it, we fear it, but we can't stop it from coming. We either adapt to change or we get left behind. And it hurts to grow, anybody who tells you it doesn't is lying. But here's the truth… the more things change, the more they stay the same. And sometimes, ok sometimes change is good. Sometimes, change is everything.—_Meredith, Grey's Anatomy.

Bonnie Bennett was definitely not a stranger to change. Within her whole 22 years of living, she had seen nothing but change. From her mother's abandonment when she was a child, to her father's absent attitude, and then the sudden death of her grandmother the summer before her junior year of high school. Each time she had to learn to adapt and precious moments that were a regular necessity, were now turned into fading memories. But, no matter what the change was, whether it was family tragedies or changes dealing with school, work, friendships, and just life altering moments, it shaped Bonnie into the woman she was today.

Though, through all of the changes, good and bad, Bonnie's dream of becoming a forensic pathologist never faltered. She molded her whole life around wanting to be the one responsible for determining the cause of someone's death. She had spent a majority of her middle and high school career, and college life watching forensic and criminal television shows and movies; finding keen interest and amusement in what she viewed. She was more than ready to dive in and dissect it all and it was safe to say that she didn't have a squeamish stomach.

Bonnie prided herself on her many accomplishments. Doing exceptionally well in school was like a drug she never wanted to get rid of. People would call her crazy for hearing her stress reliever and coping mechanism were tight deadlines and twenty page papers. She worked excruciatingly hard in high school and was working even harder in her college career. With all of the late nights and early mornings where sometimes sleep wasn't even the main priority on the agenda, she was never late on an assignment, did extremely well on presentations and research papers, and never made anything less than an A in her classes. She graduated valedictorian of her class and she was on the dean's list every semester in college and planned to graduate Summa Cum Laude of her class. Bonnie wanted to make her grandmother proud; even if she wasn't with her anymore.

She just had to get through this last semester of her senior year and then she would be attending medical school on a full ride scholarship to Johns Hopkins University. All of those long nights and hard work paid off. So, between this and her internship at the morgue she got a week ago, she was ready to take on all life had for her. And then she would be Dr. Bonnie Sheila Bennett.

When class was finally over her heart dropped in her stomach when Professor Salvatore asked to see her after class. Her palms began to get sweaty as she thought of the trouble she was about to get into for falling asleep. Of course her first time doing something wrong would be the last semester of her college career, in a class that was mandatory to graduate and hard as hell to complete.

If only Professor McLendon didn't get caught with his pants down with one of his students in his night class, and his wife popping in and causing a scene. A Regular drama filled soap opera. And honestly, Bonnie didn't care about who put their dick where, that was their business, but she was more ticked off that the one teacher who had easy teaching methods in the most important class of her life, was caught with his pants down.

And now they were stuck with the professor who had the face of an Adonis, but seemed like a complete cocky hard-ass. She could still remember verbatim the first words he spoke this morning as he entered their class.

"_I'm Professor Salvatore; you can all call me Damon. I'll be the new interim professor for McLendon; which I'm sure we all know why. Look, I don't care to be liked. I'm here to do a job. And I don't care that it's your last semester and you probably all thought you could slack off. I don't mind giving F's. Remember that."_

"You want us to wait?" Matt asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Please." Bonnie knew Matt was knowledgeable about how she never liked getting in trouble when school was involved.

She stood in front of Professor Salvatore as he leaned back on his desk and crossed his arms. And she tried her best not to look like she just had a sex dream about him.

"Bonnie, I don't know how Professor Mclendon did it, and I know I'm new here, but falling asleep in my class isn't the way I do things. I don't care if you were done with your test early."

She ignored the fact that his eyes roamed over her a bit, and apologized. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"A 2000 word essay on why you shouldn't fall asleep in my class, and then I'll believe it won't."

The smirk that crossed his lips pissed her off a little. As if he enjoyed what he had to do. When she walked back to the entrance of the classroom where Matt and Hayley waited for her, Matt put his arm around her.

But it was Hayley who spoke up. "Hey guys, I think I'm going to stay back to see about extra credit. I think I totally bombed that test."

"Well, be careful, he may make you write a 10,000 word essay on how to take a test." It was safe to say that Bonnie was annoyed.

"And don't get caught with your pants down." Matt joked.

Hayley laughed. "I'll meet you both for lunch in an hour."

After they left, Hayley walked up to Damon and punched him in the face. "Damon, what the hell are you doing here?!"

* * *

"Did you two want to go ahead and order an appetizer while we wait for your other person to show up?"

Bonnie Bennett smiled to the waitress as she handed she and Matt their drinks. As much as her stomach was issuing her to order everything on the menu, they were still waiting on Ben to show up. Hayley ended up having to issue a rain check, so now they were just waiting for her fiancé.

Matt decided to order the spinach dip and the waitress gave him a wink before she left.

"Now I know why you like coming here." Bonnie smiled, taking a sip of her drink.

"I would have liked it even more today, if I knew _he_ wasn't coming."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Matt, when are you going to get passed the fact that he's in my life to stay."

He shrugged. "When you realize he's bad news, Bons. He doesn't deserve you."

"Yeah, well who does? Because I don't see a list of men knocking on my door." She took a rather large swallow of her drink this time. Partly because she didn't want to get into the conversation she was about to get into with Matt; knowing it was going to lead into an argument, and because of the fact that a certain professor kept popping into her head. "I love Ben. He's a really big part of my life. And I really want you two to get along because you're a big part of my life too."

"I just think you're settling because Ben is all you know."

"I'm not settling." She snapped.

The waitress came back just in time, placing down the spinach dip.

"Look, Bonnie," Matt began inhaling a few chips. "You know I love you and I don't want to upset you. But I can't change how I feel about him. He just rubs me the wrong way. But, if he makes you happy and you're in love with him, then I'll still walk you down that aisle… even though I'll be asking you to change your mind the whole way up there."

She gave him a small smile. If that was all she was going to get from him, she knew she would have to take it. Even though their relationship was purely platonic; she knew that he loved her more than anything, and she felt the same way. They were each other's families, and had always been there for one another.

Bonnie's cell phone ringing brought them out of their conversation.

It was Ben.

"Hey babe, where are you?" Bonnie didn't even look at Matt to know his eyes were on his.

_"I'm sorry Bons, but I won't be able to make it. I got tied up at work."_

Bonnie tried to suppress her dissatisfaction. This wasn't the first time he'd bailed on her. It was actually starting to become a pattern that she didn't want to get use too. Yes, she loved Ben with every fiber of her being. They began dating in her senior year of high school, which was his freshman year in college, and just last year he popped the question and she didn't even have to think before saying yes. He was her first love and she lost her virginity to him. They had been through so much together that she honestly couldn't imagine her life with him.

"It's fine." Even though her voice betrayed that it wasn't.

_"Baby, I'm really sorry." _

"It's okay." A tear threatened to fall from her eye. "Matt's here to keep me company."

The other end grew silent, and she automatically knew what was coming next.

"Ben?"

_"Of course he is. He seems to always be there when I'm not."_

Bonnie couldn't even suppress the eye roll that snuck up on her face. "I really don't even feel like getting into this with you right now. Let's just talk later."

Their usual terms of endearment were nonexistent before they hung up the phone.

"Bailing again?" Of course Matt had something to say. "A way to any woman's heart."

Bonnie shot him a glare. She needed another drink….and some food.

Neither of them noticed the change in the weather as the sun became hidden by the clouds and the wind picked up rather quickly.

* * *

After leaving lunch, attending kickboxing class, and finishing her essay from the professor from hell, that she decided to have sex dreams about, Bonnie was now at home getting ready for her second week at her internship at the morgue.

After getting out of the shower, she checked immediately checked her inner thigh after a feeling of discomfort made itself known. There were two little small red pricks in the area that felt irritated. Immediately her thoughts drifted over to the Professor. At the way she was feeling right now, she would love to get in bed and get under the covers in hope that the dream would magically return.

Her lotion falling off of her bathroom counter pulled her out of her thoughts. Her black cat, Kat, decided that her lotion was in her way when she jumped on the counter to stare at herself in the mirror. Sometimes she swore that her cat was completely vain.

A few minutes later after Bonnie dressed, and Caroline Forbes, her best friend since junior year of high school walked into her bedroom. "Are you sure you don't want me to take you?"

"No, it's okay. Ben said he was going to pick me up after everything that happened earlier."

Caroline's tried not to show her facial expression of dis**i**nterest to Bonnie when she brought up Ben. She honestly couldn't stand her best friend's fiancé. "Why did you ever have to choose to work in a morgue again? It's late, there are dead people. It's not safe."

"Hence the word dead." Bonnie picked up Kat and walked into the living room. "When their dead they don't come back. I'm as safe there than anywhere else."

Bonnie's phone vibrating interrupted their conversation as she accepted the call.

"_Before you say anything I just wanted to say I love you."_

Well, she knew where this was going. "You got tied up again?"

"_Bons, I'm so sorry, my father called me into a board meeting a little while ago."_

Bonnie wanted to be angry about the fact that Ben could have let her know sooner, because she really thought he was on his way. But, she couldn't help but be proud of him. He finally gave up the excessive partying and accepted a position at his father's company. And he had been nothing but her biggest supporter through all of her hard times trying to get to this point in her life. So, she couldn't be upset.

"No worries, Caroline will take me." She gave Caroline an apologetic look, who provided her a soft smile.

_ "I'll pick you up in the morning when you get off. I love you."_

"I love you too."

Bonnie ended the call and looked at Caroline, "I'm really sorry, Care."

"Never apologize to me. You know I don't mind." Caroline brought her into a hug as they walked out of their apartment. "Plus, I expect to hear details about this new McHottie professor of yours and that dream you had of him while we're on the way there?"

Leave it to Caroline to use her brightness and cheerfulness to make her feel better, even though Bonnie wanted to push that sex dream to back of her mind.

* * *

It was a slow night at the morgue.

However, it gave Bonnie time to study for another test they had at the end of the week. Between the class that took up most of her morning four days a week, the internship that took up her nights three days a week, and the part-time bartender gig she landed at the local bar with Matt and Caroline, finding time to do anything was scarce to none. And sleep, well, the phrase you can sleep when you're dead was well known slogan in her book.

As she began marking up her text book with different color highlights she heard a male voice.

"Incoming!"

"Hey Bonnie B, just you tonight?" She was glad Luka was on call tonight. He was her favorite EMT.

"Yes, well Dr. Canton stepped out and won't be back for another 30 minutes. What do you got for me?" she moved her study materials out of the way.

"Caucasian male, looks to be in his late twenties, deep puncture wounds, and a broken neck." He reported, and Bonnie looked at the paperwork.

When the body was revealed to her, her heart instantly jumped in her chest.

It was Professor Salvatore.

Luka noticed her reaction. "Do you know him?"

"Yeah, he…" She cleared her throat. "He was the new professor to my class." Bonnie was accustomed to seeing dead bodies. She'd seen her fair share on television shows, movies, and documentaries. Granted this was the fourth one she was seeing in person, but it really didn't make it that much easier; especially because this was someone she knew. A thick skin was clearly developed in her life especially if she wanted to go into this line of work.

Luka gave her a moment to get it together. "Should you be the one to do this then?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"I have about thirty minutes before I have to get back out to the hospital, do you want me to stay?"

She gave him a warm smile. "It's tempting, but I'm going to be doing this for the rest of my life. I have to learn to handle dead bodies" She paused for a moment and looked back down at Damon. "Even if I know them." It would make her that much stronger.

Luka left a few minutes later and when she set up her medical instruments to begin her work, she turned back to his dead body and noticed that a lot of the deep gashes that marred what was exposed of his chest were no longer there.

It wasn't a surprise that Bonnie hadn't been getting much sleep even if the semester had just started, but that never made her hallucinate in the past. But when a few more disappeared right before her eyes, she immediately jumped back, pleased that the wall behind her supported her from falling.

The forensic pathologist in her was engrossed that something like this was happening, but the person in her was scared shitless that she didn't even hear the commotion approaching. And when she saw Damon's neck crack back into place, her reaction was subdued as a hand made its way forcefully over her lips.

Bonnie's scream was muffled as she was picked up from behind. After taking kickboxing and self defense classes for several years, she knew a thing or two about how to handle herself in a situation. This would just be the first time she would have to use it. She kicked the guy in front of her, while head-butting the one holding her. It didn't seem to affect him much as he threw her into her medical equipment, causing her to fall to the floor.

The adrenaline coursing through her veins couldn't mask the pain that overtook her body. She tried to get to her feet but she was kicked in the stomach, this time flying into the glass cabinet that held more medical supplies. She didn't know what impaled her abdomen, and her vision kept going in and out, but Bonnie could have sworn something was wrong with their faces. As if they were distorted in some way.

"Get her and let's go!" one of them yelled. There were at least three of them she could make out.

Bonnie could feel herself growing a bit weaker. It pained her because she really hoped this wasn't how her life was going to end. She had too much to do….too much she hadn't done yet.

Before one of them could pick her up, she saw him being thrown back. She knew there was fighting going on and still she didn't know if she would make it out alive.

When her eyes opened, she didn't know how long she was out but Damon Salvatore was kneeling down in front of her. She had to be dreaming again, because he was dead.

She barely heard her name escape his lips before she submitted to darkness.

* * *

Caroline Forbes chose tonight to curl up on the couch and watch old reruns of Orange is the New Black. She had every intention of going out, but due to the random wind and rain storm, she decided to stay in the house and stuff her face with Chinese take-out, ice cream, and wine. When a knock on the door, more like rapid banging, interrupted her, she immediately jumped up, while Kat ran from the other room to see who it was.

Caroline all but pulled the door off its hinges when she saw who it was.

"Bonnie!" Every part of her body felt like it was shutting down seeing Bonnie unconscious. "What happened to her?"

"Nice to see you too, Caroline." He pushed passed her and Lied her down on the couch. "I gave her some blood, so she should wake up tomor-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Caroline used her vampire strength and speed to slam him into the wall. The veins around her eyes appeared. "What did you do! What the hell are you doing here?"

Damon turned her around with little to no effort and slammed her against the wall; holding onto her neck. "You know, you and the werewolf she-devil need a crash course in not putting your hands on me. I know we haven't seen each other in ages, vampire Barbie, but I really don't have a problem killing you."

She scoffed and moved out of his grasp, not showing fear at his empty threats, and went back over to her best friend. She knelt down and moved some of the fallen hair out of her face. "Damon if she doesn't wake up, all of this would have been for nothing." She glared at him.

"She's not dead. But do you know how many rogues are in this town? She was attacked tonight by some of them and you were supposed to be keeping a watch on her."

"I have been! For the past five years we have been doing just fine protecting her and then you show up and all this shit happens." She then picked Bonnie up. "Clean yourself up and after I take care of her, we're going to have a little talk." And then she walked into Bonnie's room, closing the door behind her.

Damon could definitely say out of everyone, he missed Caroline the least. Between her and Hayley, they knew just how to get on his nerves. Even after not seeing them for almost twenty years, they still bothered him as if he had just laid eyes on them yesterday.

He really didn't think his night would end up like it did. He didn't expect to wake up barely dressed in a morgue, probably about to get sliced and diced. He also didn't expect to wake up to find at least three rogues trying to capture Bonnie Bennett. He was able to see her attempt to fight back as she was thrown into one of the glass cabinets, causing her to fall in and out of consciousness. And that fueled his rage to kill all three of them without blinking.

He was glad that he was able to get a heartbeat from her because if she were to die, he would never forgive himself.

As Damon poured himself a glass of cheap vodka, he mentally cursed Caroline for not having anything brown, but he mixed blood with it to give it that extra kick.

Seeing Bonnie again did something to him that he didn't want to admit right now.

He was grateful that Bonnie and Caroline's little feline interrupted his thoughts before his mind began to wonder back to that dream he bestowed upon her in the classroom. It circled around his leg to the point that it was aggravating. He tried moving it away from him; making a mental note not to kill it

"Hey Blondie! I think your little pet rodent is in heat!"

Caroline smirked, as she walked out of Bonnie's room. "If you just pick her up and hold her, she'll stop."

Damon shrugged and picked up the little black nuisance and instantly it began to scratch the mess out of him. He dropped her down so quickly, he was surprised she landed on all fours.

Caroline laughed and began pouring her a glass of wine. "Nice one, Katherine."

Before their eyes, Kat turned into the spitting image of his brother's girlfriend.

Damon smirked and his eyes did travel over her body, before Caroline threw her a robe.

"I thought you dropped off of the face of the earth Kitty Kat." So now, he not only had Caroline and Hayley to deal with, he also had Katherine. Great way to start his first day in the city of Whitmore. "But I guess you prefer being on all fours."

She shot him a glare. "You didn't mind it three hundred years ago."

"Let's cut the chit chat." Caroline interrupted, leaning against the counter in her kitchen, not wanting to hear about the sex escapades between the two. "Why are you here, Damon?"

"I made a promise to Sheila too."

"A lot of us made a promise to Sheila. The ones she wanted close stayed close and the ones who were supposed to be protecting her far away like you, were supposed to stay…. oh I don't know… _far away_."

"Thanks for that piece of information I knew nothing about, Blondie." Sarcasm dripped from Damon's voice. "I made two promises to Sheila. That I would protect her and that I wouldn't come back into her life until she turned twenty-two. Granted I'm a little late, but I'm here."

Caroline sighed. "Damon she doesn't know about you. She doesn't know you exist." She couldn't stand Damon. In her 200 years of living, she would be honest and say that they never really got along. Their personalities clashed way too much and if they didn't share a mutual connection with his brother, one of them would have probably already been dead a long time ago.

"And she's engaged." Katherine smirked as she devoured a blood bag; taking pride in the way his face dropped and his demeanor changed.

And before Damon could say anything someone knocked at the front door.

Usually Caroline looked through the peep hole before she opened the door, but with everything going on tonight, she didn't think twice about it. And she really wish she had.

Because Ben, Bonnie's fiancé, was standing on the other side of the door.

* * *

**A/N: What do you all think? I was a little nervous to start this story, but I hope you all enjoyed and want to see where it's headed. Thank you for reading and please review. I would really love your feedback =)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow! Thank you all so much for reading, reviewing, adding it to your favorites, following, etc. It means so much to me that you are taking a chance on this! Hopefully I don't disappoint with this chapter!**

* * *

Bonnie couldn't breathe. Her throat felt as if it were tightening and every time she attempted to take a breath, that feeling of water seeping its way down her throat and clogging her windpipe took a hold of her.

Her eyes opened violently and when she was able to sit up, she looked around frantically; trying to catch the breath that was slowly returning. She knew that she was outside, but it was foggy and she could barely see. Standing to her feet, her head felt as if it were about to explode from the pain thumping within. It was safe to say that being terrified wasn't the precise word to sum up what she was feeling.

When she heard what felt like branches crunching under someone's feet; her first instinct was to run and to get far away as she possibly could. But all of those impulses subsided when she couldn't move. Her feet felt heavy and it was as if she were stuck to the ground. She had this feeling that whatever was right behind her was going to harm her and possibly end her life.

Strong arms encircled her waist catching her off guard. She began to feel weightless as his touch was having an effect on her insides. When his lips touched her neck, out of reflex her head leaned back against his chest. Her eyes then connected with his and they widened a little when they stared into eyes she thought were dead.

Professor Salvatore.

"Call me Damon." His voice gently caressed along her skin; sending shivers down her spine.

No sooner as she was about to speak, she felt a sharp pinch along her neck. He was biting her … tugging at her neck. If she said it didn't hurt then she would be lying, but there was also another feeling coursing through her as well, and it felt ridiculously good. But she knew it wasn't right.

When he stopped, she touched her neck and stared at the blood staining her fingers. Her anxiety level shot through the roof. Finally being able to turn around, Bonnie didn't know if a scream escaped her lips or if she were imagining it all. Damon's eyes were red with what looked dark spidery veins circling them. The color drained from her face completely when she saw the fangs descending from his mouth.

Bonnie took off running without a second thought; not caring about anything as her bare feet stepped on objects that would leave her bruised and bloody. She slowed to a stop when she saw the blonde locks of her best friend.

"Caroline?" She struggled to say as she tried catching her breath.

She watched as her best friend turned around marring the same features as Damon.

_What the hell was going on?_ She thought. And with her heart beating rapidly in her chest, she took off running again.

She made an attempt to look back, making sure they weren't following her, and as soon as she turned back around she hit the hard wall of someone's chest. He held onto her, helping her from hitting the ground, and she was now staring into the eyes of someone she hadn't seen in six years.

Bonnie's eyes shot open as she sat up in bed and took a big intake of breath. The sunlight was shining through her window causing her to squint her eyes as she adjusted to her surroundings. She was in her room, in her bed, and Ben was asleep beside her. But she had no recollection on how she got here. The last thing she remembered was being at the morgue. It was a slow night so she was able to get some studying done, and the next thing she knew, she was waking up from a very weird dream.

Suddenly, her eyes flew to her clock and she felt her stomach tie in knots. It was _9:30 am_ and she was officially an hour late for class. She didn't know if throwing up would be the appropriate reaction, but it was only the second week and she was already late to one of the most important classes of her life. She had never been late to class before.

She immediately jumped out of bed and found her phone to text Matt and Hayley that she was on her way. She didn't even know how she would explain herself. That she overslept? Who oversleeps when they are supposed to be attending med school in the fall?

When she looked at her phone there was already a text from Matt_. _

_**The ass of a professor cancelled class for the rest of the week! I think you need to reconsider hating him. **_

Her heart began to beat normally in her chest again, and she found herself sitting on the end of her bed as she tried to calm her nerves.

She continued looking through her phone when she also saw a text from Hayley.

_**This professor is a 2 inch dick. He may have cancelled class but all the work he piled on us is ridiculous. Check your email if you haven't, which I'm sure you have. We are going to have to do some major study sessions.**_

A smile that was barely there formed on Bonnie's lips. She had every intention of texting them back, but her mind was going a mile a minute and it didn't help that she was still on edge over that dream she had.

When arms that were nowhere near what she felt in her dream, began to massage her shoulders, she instantly jumped.

"Hey baby, it's just me."

Ben then kissed the nape of her neck and for some reason it just felt off; like his kisses were foreign to her, even though they shouldn't be. She brought her hand up to the same spot where she was bitten in her dream and even though she didn't feel anything out of the ordinary, she still had some questions that needed to be answered.

"What happened last night? Because I don't remember coming home."

"I went to the morgue to come visit with you for awhile and when you weren't there and didn't pick up your phone I came right over. Caroline said you weren't feeling well and called her to come get you. You were out like a light when I got here."

"That's strange. I don't remember any of that." She really didn't. The only way Bonnie would ever leave work or class or anything at that matter was if it were an emergency. And by emergency, she meant if there was a gaping wound bleeding profusely from her body and she was on the verge of death. Or, if she were contagious, but even then….

Ben shrugged. "Do you think it could have been something you ate?"

"Maybe…but I feel fine now." Something just didn't feel right about all of this. If it were a stomach ache, that didn't result in memory loss.

He then pulled her into him, "How fine?" He asked, kissing her lips. "Fine enough too…." His words were lost as his hand slipped through her pajama bottoms finding the sweet spot between her legs.

A soft moan escaped her lips, and she couldn't help but giggle a bit; almost like a young school girl who had her first crush.

"Bonnie, I just wanted to say sorry for bailing on you lately." Her mind could barely register as his finger kept teasing her clit. "All of this work stuff dad has me doing is really demanding."

She leaned up a bit to kiss his lips. "I can't believe we're talking about this right now." She breathed, as he continued to tease her. "But baby, it's okay. We're both busy. Finding time when we can is the most important. "

"It's just this whole year I've been tied up on and off and I'm really sorry for that."

"Ben," She grabbed his face gently in her hands. "It's not just you. I've been tied up too. I'm fine with a few missed moments, especially when we are going to spend the rest of our lives together."

He kissed her lips. "I love you, Bonnie."

"Then show me." When he kissed her deeply and then replaced his hand with his mouth, all of her troubles subsided for the moment.

* * *

It was around 11:00 in the morning when Ben left to an important business meeting with the company. A part of Bonnie wanted him to stay with her all day where they could just lay in bed, cuddle, and watch movies. Having his presence around was refreshing and it had nothing to do with keeping her mind off of wondering to her sex dream with Damon and the dream she had last night. She would keep telling herself that until it became true.

When she finally emerged from her room to walk him out, she gave him a kiss goodbye, and made her way to Caroline's room.

When her blonde best friend opened her door, she smiled.

"How are you feeling?" She issued for her to come in, and Kat instantly jumped from Caroline's bed and ran over to Bonnie.

"Better I think." Bonnie answered, picking up Kat and holding her close. "Honestly Caroline, I really don't remember being sick and calling you last night.

She didn't notice the apprehension on Caroline's face as she sat down on her bed.

"What do you remember?" Caroline tried her best to keep her composure. Being almost 200 years old, it was assumed that she would know how to keep it together through a crisis. But, Bonnie was her best friend and it was extremely hard keeping things from her.

"I remember being at the morgue studying and then I remember waking up this morning. Did I pass out?" she inquired.

"Not that I know of," Caroline began looking at herself in the mirror to fix her hair. "You just said you weren't feeling well and asked me to come get you, and then you went into your room and fell asleep." She looked towards Bonnie and noticed Kat looking dead at her. She really hoped she bought it.

"It just seems weird." Between not remembering anything from last night and that crazy dream, she just had this feeling that something else was going on.

"Care, I had this weird dream last night."

"What about?"

"Well, I woke up in the woods and the professor I told you about…" she paused for a moment, not sure if she should leave that out. But she didn't. "He was there trying to seduce me."

Caroline's eyes rose, but she tried her best to keep a smile on her face, when in reality, all she really wanted to do was stake Damon, because she knew he was causing those dreams.

"And then I saw his eyes….it was like something was wrong with his face. And then you were there, and it was the same thing." She opted on leaving out the other person she ran into. "Both of your eyes were red with dark veins around them. And you had fangs…..like you were a vampire or something."

Caroline dropped a few candles she was trying to move, stating that she was clumsy. But, Bonnie noticed the uneasiness placed on her best friend's features.

"Crazy dream…" A nervous laughter escaped her lips and it didn't go unnoticed by Bonnie.

"Yeah…" And for some reason with Caroline's demeanor, Bonnie didn't think it was just a crazy dream anymore. "Because there is no such thing as vampires."

"Exactly…" Caroline's response came out on a bit of a stutter.

They didn't know how long they had been staring at one another, but Kat knocking over Caroline's lamp, ended all of that.

As Caroline picked up the shattered pieces of her favorite lamp, she mentally cursed Katherine, wanting throw the little fur ball out of the window, but for Bonnie's sake didn't. "Was I at least wearing something cute?

Bonnie's response was hesitant at first, because she knew that she was trying to ease her way out of the subject at hand.

"Your outfits are always cute; undead or not." She was able to provide a smile.

As they began talking about something else, Bonnie began to come to the conclusion that maybe she was just being worried for nothing. Dreams were dreams for a reason; they were never real.

* * *

Damon Salvatore had seen and done a lot in his four hundred and thirty five years of living. He's traveled the world more than once, finding homes almost everywhere on earth. He's met hundreds of thousands of people, killed a lot, and fucked a lot. He lived life as if he had the whole world at his disposal; never feeling remorse for things he's done.

Within his never-ending life, he considered himself to have a few acquaintances and even fewer friends over the centuries. His younger brother was among the latter, and he considered him to be the ripper of their generation and probably more generations to come. But that was his brother and as much as they didn't get along at times; Damon would kill anyone that set out to do him harm.

So, while his brother was somewhere out of the country with Katherine's doppelganger, he was in the city of Whitmore, Virginia, posing as a college professor who really didn't give two fucks whether the students passed or not. And his main reason for being in this mini New York, seemed to be engaged to some human male. He knew that Bonnie would eventually grow up and have a life without him, especially when she was too young to remember him when they first met, but he at least expected the people who were supposed to be protecting her, to keep her away from all men. But, what could he really expect from Caroline and Hayley; they couldn't stand him.

Damon could remember the first time he came in contact with Bonnie Bennett. She was just a little over one year old, and Shelia Bennett, her grandmother, invited him and a few other supernatural beings over for a cookout. Even though Mystic Falls, Virginia wasn't there ideal place of visiting, they would never miss up an opportunity to be in Sheila's presence. She was a very powerful witch with a gracious soul. She may have been a hard ass at times, but she had saved their lives more than once. It was unusual for a witch to put trust in other creatures but their own, but Sheila had a select few that she cared about. He remembered that day when she took them all down to her basement where the humans in attendance wouldn't overhear. She informed them of something they already knew, but were trying to prevent from thinking about it. Bonnie's birth signified more than anyone could imagine.

One hundred years ago when he first met Sheila, she informed him that the last Bennett witch of their line was going to be very special to this world yet be held in a vast amount of danger. There was an evil that plagued this earth worse than his kind, and that specific evil considered itself to be the king of it all; the first to ever walk this planet they lived in. As of right now the thing that scared the things that go bump in the night was entombed in a death like state; thanks to Sheila and a few other witches. But, thanks to his loyal vampires; rogues, who would continue his legacy until he arose, they were wiping out not only some of the human population but the supernatural one as well. If Sheila hadn't put a protection spell on Bonnie when she was born, he knew without a doubt that they would have found her.

Sheila and her daughter Abby thought it would be best if Bonnie never knew anything about the supernatural and what she was. And between each of them that Sheila chose, they all had specific roles to play in Bonnie's life to keep her safe. Some were brought into her life, becoming friends and guardians, and some were not necessarily in the forefront of her life, but kept her safe at a distance; fighting off rogues in hopes that none would find her.

But, that wasn't the only reason he was at Whitmore. He remembered that same day when Sheila pulled him aside from the rest of the crowd; informing him that she knew that Bonnie would be his lifemate. Apart of him did feel something when he saw the little Bennett witch; it was this overwhelming need to protect her, but he pushed it aside, thinking that it was just because she was a Bennett witch and he had already made a promise to protect that line as best as he could. But that wasn't the case. Sheila made him promise not to come in contact with Bonnie until she was at least in her mid 20's. She and everyone else knew what kind of person Damon was, and though no one could stop life mates from happening, she didn't want her whole life to be consumed with his, vice versa.

Lifemates were a paranormal defect to some but a blessing to others. It affected all supernatural beings. Most of the time it's found between a supernatural and a human, but there are times when it's supernatural and supernatural. It was a bond that could never be broken once formed. Both parties involved are instinctively protective over the other and sometimes possessive. The way supernatural creature involved loved went beyond the bounds of human love. One person can choose not to form a bond and choose to be with someone else, but it won't be the same. There is only one lifemate for someone in an existence; so there are plenty who have not found theirs due to their other half not being born yet. The majority of his life, Damon thought that it was a load of crap, but he didn't think so anymore upon seeing Bonnie. He thought about not coming back and just protecting her from afar, but as soon as she walked into that classroom he just knew.

With all of that being said, Bonnie was twenty two now, and it may have not been mid 20's but he was ready to see her and felt like he waited long enough. Between random phone calls from Caroline and Hayley once every blue moon, informing everyone that she was safe, that's all he got. They left out the part that she had met someone who she was engaged to be married too and who she let touch her. He should have killed the vampire and the werewolf upon sight. But as of right now, he would just settle on Bonnie's loser fiance.

* * *

"Caroline, seriously, I'm on the way." Bonnie clicked off her phone right after she spoke those words. She had several items in her hand as she walked through downtown Whitmore. After walking in about ten stores to finish picking up decorations and items for the event Caroline was throwing tonight, she felt like her arm was falling off.

It was now the end of the week and even with the strange turn of events that happened, Bonnie didn't allow that to affect her, and tried her best to put it behind her. She treated her week like most weeks, except since class was cancelled she was able to meet with Matt and Hayley earlier in the day to study and write papers that were due next week. She went to her internship at the morgue, got in some great workouts, and took a few shifts at the bar. It was a very busy yet productive week.

And now she wanted to hurt her best friend because she had her ripping and running all around town, when technically she was just supposed to meet her to help finish the decorations. Then Caroline kept calling her to pick up items that she forgot about. Bonnie definitely didn't mind helping out anyone, especially Caroline, but her attitude made Bonnie want to strangle her. Her best friend loved planning events and she did an amazing job of it, but she became hell on earth while doing so. It was her way or the highway. However, Bonnie would definitely have to say that she was happy that she was so passionate about it, even if she was an evil bitch monster from hell.

When her phone rang again, she was able to maneuver a little bit to see that it was Ben. Upon debating on if she should try and answer it, without dropping everything in her had, Bonnie ran smack dab into someone causing everything to fall to the ground anyway.

Great.

She immediately apologized as she knelt down and began picking up everything. Her heart instantly sped up when a voice that she hadn't heard in awhile entered her ears.

"Miss Bennett?"

Her eyes connected with Damon's as he knelt down and began helping her. "You look like you could use a hand."

When Bonnie finally found her voice, she stood up, as he held most of her items. "Thank you, Professor Salvatore."

"Call me Damon." He stated, holding most of her bags.

Bonnie wanted to tell him that it would probably be inappropriate, but her voice caught in her throat when she noticed his eyes trace over her. It almost caused her to drop her things again. What was wrong with her? She was acting like some silly teenager who had never seen a guy in their life. And the fact that she was engaged made her reaction that much more idiotic.

"Where are you headed?" he asked.

She cleared her throat and tried to look everywhere but his eyes. "Um…just three blocks from here. My friend is hosting the masquerade ball tonight and she needed some last minute things."

"I could give you a ride if you'd like? I don't want you to have to walk any further and drop everything again."

His smile made her smile.

Bonnie tried to remain staring forward as he drove to her destination, but her peripheral vision was eye fucking him to death right now, and she felt completely guilty because she was an engaged woman lusting after another man; her professor at that.

"How has not having class this week treated you?" His voice broke her away from her thoughts.

"It's been alright." She made the mistake of turning to look at him. "If you don't mind me asking, what made you cancel class for a whole week?"

He glanced over to her before he put his eyes back on the road.

"Not that I'm not grateful. With all the work you piled on us that's due on Monday, we probably would have never got the time to complete any of it." She instantly regretted saying any of that. He was her professor and she had no right to question him about the assignments he gave out.

Bonnie caught him smirk before she glanced back to the road. "I know Monday I came off as a hard ass, but I don't want to see you guys fail the last class of your college career. I know you all have a lot of internships to worry about too. I'll let you in on a little secret Bennett. This class isn't supposed to be as hard as you think." Damon knew he was sprouting out a load of bull, but he couldn't let her know that.

Bonnie had every intention of going into the fact that he made her write a pointless essay on 'why not to fall asleep in his class' and that she emailed it to him and never received a response, but they pulled up to their location before she could.

When they entered the venue, Bonnie saw Caroline straight away, hanging a few decorations and giving orders to everyone in the room.

"Care, where do you want all of this?" Bonnie asked, and when Caroline saw her she instantly smiled but her expression faltered a little upon seeing Damon standing beside her.

Matt walked up to Bonnie with two large boxes in his arms. "Save me." He mouthed.

"Matt, I'm not paying you not to do any work!" Caroline yelled.

He rolled his eyes. "You don't pay me at all."

"I know, I've just always wanted to say that." She beamed, before pulling Bonnie to the side.

"What is Damon doing here?" Caroline whispered, trying not to sound worried. And it didn't help that Damon was staring intently at the back of her best friend. "I mean professor Salvatore." She quickly tried to cover herself. Sometimes her foot just lived in her mouth.

"He dropped me off when he saw me trying to carry everything under the sun and dropping it all over the sidewalk."

Caroline ignored the look Bonnie was giving her and then noticed Hayley going up to talk to him. Maybe he would leave.

"Is there a problem?"

"No." She quickly answered. "I just know how stressed you are in your last semester and I don't want people to get the wrong idea."

Bonnie turned back around to see Hayley and Damon talking to one another. "Trust me… by the looks of it; they won't get the wrong idea about me."

Caroline saw the look of jealousy creep up on her friend's face.

Not even a minute later Ben walked through the door and Caroline rolled her eyes. She felt worse about him than Damon, and Ben was human.

"I didn't know Ben was coming."

"Me either." A soft smile formed on Bonnie's lips. Ben would be a great distraction right now. She looked back at Caroline before she walked up to him. "Be nice please."

Ben wrapped her in a hug and kissed her forehead.

"What are you doing here?"

"I had a break from work and wanted to know if you needed any help."

"We've got it covered." Caroline interrupted.

Bonnie shot her a glare, and Ben rolled his eyes. It annoyed her that none of her friends liked Ben and Ben didn't like any of her friends.

"I'm sure Caroline could use you for a little bit." Bonnie quickly said, when she saw that Ben was about to respond. She really didn't need her best friend and fiancé to cause a scene like the last time.

And she was glad when Caroline turned away and went to go finish decorating; even though she knew a slew of mumbled curse words were coming from her mouth.

"Don't mind her; you know how she gets when she's in her event planning mode." She wrapped her arms around his stomach. "I'm really glad you came."

He kissed her lips.

It wasn't Caroline who interrupted this time. "Introduce me to your friend, Bonnie."

Bonnie's eyes widened a little when she and Ben turned around and Damon was standing in front of them. _What the hell? _She immediately thought, but tried to keep a smile on her face. "This is my fiancé Ben. Ben this is Professor Salvatore. He'll be the reason if I pass or fail my last semester." She tried to provide a bit of humor.

It didn't seem to work. Right away she could tell that Ben didn't like him; which wasn't a complete surprise.

"Nice to meet you." He pulled Bonnie to him, and they began to walk away.

Bonnie was able to look back for a moment to see Damon staring at her, and she quickly turned away before his eyes held her captive.

"That was rude." Bonnie whispered, as they began to decorate.

"I didn't know your professors were… young."

"Ben, don't start." She knew exactly what Ben was implying. He always seemed to get this way when there were any other men in her life. That's the main reason why he couldn't stand Matt because he felt that being best friends with a guy would lead to something else. But he was dead wrong. And his subliminal accusation irked the hell out of her because Damon was her professor for crying out loud. Okay, granted she had a sex dream about him, but that didn't mean she was going to leave Ben and run off into the sunset with a man who probably didn't even find her the least bit attractive.

"I won't if he can keep his eyes off of you. Isn't that illegal or something?"

Bonnie presented him with an eye roll. "His eyes aren't on me. Why do you always get like this?"

It was inevitable that the arguing was about to happen. But, thank God for Hayley.

"Hey Bons, do you mind helping me hang these up over there?" she smiled with a few decorations

"Sure." She then looked at Ben. "Isn't your lunch break over? Maybe you should get back to work."

And then she walked away from him without another word.

* * *

That night everything was in place and looked beautiful. Even though Bonnie had helped out a little in the decorating department, seeing the final touches on everything blew her mind… it blew everyone's mind. After walking in with Matt and Hayley, they received their masks and made their way over to Caroline.

"What do you guys think?" Caroline asked, with a bright smile on her face.

"Caroline this is beautiful." Bonnie smiled giving her a hug.

"Yeah," Matt agreed. "I take back everything bad I've said about you today."

Caroline rolled her eyes and shoved him a little.

About an hour in, Bonnie found herself standing near the bar, drinking her third cosmopolitan, and watching her friends dance. She would have joined them, but her mood wasn't at its best right now. She was supposed to attend this elegant event with Ben, but the office kept him late, so she hitched a ride with Hayley and Matt. He then told her he was on his way and that was forty five minutes ago. The only reason she tried her best not to be hurt, is because they both had obligations. But, at least when she made a promise, she kept it.

"Where's your fiancé?"

Bonnie's face flushed a little as she turned to look at Damon Salvatore. She was going to blame it on the alcohol, but she knew she'd be lying to herself.

"He's on his way." She took another sip of her drink. His predatory gaze was literally holding her captive, and she didn't want to look away.

"Dance with me." His command was soft yet predatorial.

"I don't think that would be appropriate." She managed to say; wondering why the hell her voice sounded as if she were having some intense phone sex.

"Here, I'm not your teacher. Plus, it seems like all of your friends are having a good time. Why shouldn't you?"

"I am having a good time."

He then stepped closer to her, and it felt like heat was coursing through her insides. She didn't even remember him taking the empty drink out of her hands as he leaned down and whispered in her ear; making her shiver a little. "Just one dance…. and then I'll leave you alone."

Before Bonnie knew it, she was following him willingly onto the dance floor. And of course the fast music that was playing ended up being something slow and sensual.

He twirled her around and brought her back against his front, leaning his head in the crook of her neck, just like her dream. She didn't want to think about him biting her like the other part of her dream, but she did until she was twirled back around, facing him. His eyes never left hers and his hands were tracing up and down her waist like a passionate lover. She couldn't hide the fact that she was lusting after him, but it was something more than that….something that she couldn't explain.

But, she knew this wasn't right. And what brought her out of her inappropriate dance with Damon, was the look on her boy friend's face entering the building.

If looks could kill.

* * *

"What the hell was that?!"

Bonnie was glad she and Ben decided to talk outside, because his yelling could be overwhelming sometimes.

"It was just a dance, Ben." It would be nice just to have one night of fun and peace, but of course something always had to happen.

"He was practically fucking you on the dance floor!" He yelled. "I should go back in there and kick his ass, or have his ass arrested for trying to get with his student."

"First of all, we were not doing anything on the dance floor but _dancing_." She snapped and ripped off her masquerade mask. "I don't say anything when you dance with other girls or go to strip clubs and get lap dances with asses landing in your hands."

That shut him the hell up.

"Ben, what is going on with y-?"

"Are you sleeping with someone else?" He accused, cutting her off.

"Excuse me?" She didn't know if shocked was the exact word to sum up how thrown off she was by his question. Yes, she fooled around in her dreams; there wasn't a doubt in her mind that it hadn't happened to him before, but that did not constitute cheating so she was upset and hurt that he would even think that. "How could you say that to me? You know how much I love you and how much shit I have put up with you in the past. How could you accuse me of cheating on you? You've got to stop this jealousy!"

"I'm not jealous. I'm just asking, because the way you looked out there with that guy. The way you were letting him touch you, it sure as hell looks like your screwing him. You know how hard you've worked to get this far Bonnie. And you're going to ruin your life because you opened your legs? We're about to be married soon. I don't need people to think I'm dating a slut."

They both didn't notice the lights flickering in and outside of the building, but the thunder crackling in the sky caught them both off guard.

She saw the expression on Ben's face when he realized what he said to her and saw the few tears escape her eyes. She had every intention on slapping him, punching him, kicking him in the groin or knocking him upside his head, but she opted on a safer approach. "You should leave."

"Bonnie… I'm…" He walked up to her and she stepped back.

"If the next word that comes out of your mouth is sorry, I don't want to hear it." She turned away from him, waiting for him to leave. When he did, sprinkles of rain began to fall out of the sky while the tears began to leave Bonnie's eyes. It was always something when it came to Ben and she was tired of his bullshit. For him to say those words to her, literally felt like her heart was about to stop.

Bonnie wanted so much to go back into the party. Caroline had worked so hard, but her heart felt damaged and she didn't want to stay any longer and ruin everyone's night with her tears.

As she was turning around to at least go back inside to let her friends know she would be leaving, she bumped right into someone.

She quickly apologized, before she looked up with a tear stained face. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw who was standing right before her; looking the exact same as when he left six years ago.

"Niklaus?" Her voice was barely audible as she struggled to say his name.

"Hello, Bonnie."

This couldn't be real. She hadn't seen him since a few days after her grandmother passed. She remembered the note he left her after he skipped town stating that she would never see him again. And it literally crushed her; especially when she was still grieving over her grandmother's death. Klaus was like a guardian in a sense to her; practically raised her, and then he just up and left her all alone.

There was too much happening too fast. And already being upset with Ben; seeing Klaus magnified it all. Bonnie just wanted to go home and be alone. So, she walked passed Klaus without giving him a second glance.

Bonnie was glad Caroline let her borrow her car, even though she had to convince her at least a hundred times that she would be okay going home alone. Matt and Hayley were sloppy drunk when she left, so she really didn't get to say goodbye to them, and she didn't see Damon anywhere; not that she was looking.

When she pulled up to her apartment, she saw a woman who looked to be pregnant standing in front of her door. She really hoped that she had the wrong house, because she really didn't feel like being bothered right now.

"Can I help you?" Bonnie asked, walking up to her.

"Bonnie Bennett?"

"Yes, can I help you?" She repeated.

The lady gave a smile that seemed would seem fairly sweet to some, but it still didn't really sit right with Bonnie. "I'm April Young. I didn't want to have to tell you this, but I feel like you should know. I'm pregnant with Ben's child. We've been together for about a year now and I'm tired of him stringing you along when he should be taking care of me and our child."

Bonnie didn't even hear the thunder crackling louder in the sky or all the lights on their block shut off.

* * *

**A/N: So, what do you all think? I know there was a lot to process this chapter! And I hope it wasn't boring. I do want to say that the lifemate concept is something that I got from a lot of the vampire romance books I read. But, there is still more about it that hasn't been covered in this story. **

**Also, questions may arise, of like where was Damon when Bonnie and Ben were arguing outside, but trust me, we'll dive into that the next chapter. And more characters will be come into play about who is protecting Bonnie and how she is slowly coming into power. **

**Oh, and yes, I made Whitmore a city. Lol**

**I hope you all enjoyed and continue to read! Please Review =) Xoxo.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading and your reviews for the last chapter! I loved them! I am currently in the process of sending individual thanks to you guys, but it's going to take a little while longer! But, thank you all so much, and hopefully you all enjoy this chapter! =)**

* * *

Jack Daniel's was her choice of alcohol tonight. The burning sensation of the brown liquor wore off sooner than expected as it soothed its way down her throat like a gentle caress into her bloodstream. She was trying to drink until she felt numb… until she couldn't feel anything, but her body decided to get their faster than her heart.

As her eyes stared into the flames of the candles sitting around her to provide light, since the power in the neighborhood was currently off, she was absorbed at how a few of the candles kept extinguishing and then lighting back on again. It was strange yet fascinating and because she was intoxicated, she just felt as if she were imagining the whole thing.

While she continued to watch the flames do their little magic trick, she thought about everything that happened just a mere two hours ago. Getting in a fight with Ben, leaving the masquerade, and meeting April Young; the woman who her fiancé had been cheating on her with for about a year and was pregnant with his child.

Bile almost arose in her throat.

Bonnie had every intention of not believing the woman, but the pictures that were presented to her of she and Ben together, as if he had this whole other life; she knew it was true. As she took another sip, she thought about all the late night meetings, business trips, cancellations on the majority of the plans they made, and having to leave abruptly during the rare alone time they could get, and she didn't know why she didn't put it all together sooner. She could use the excuse that she was busy with school and studying, work, workouts, internships, but maybe deep down she always knew something wasn't right. And maybe because they were supposed to get married, she wanted to believe the absolute best in him. They had shared so much together, birthdays, holidays, secrets, and were so comfortable around one another that it was like this constant feeling of security for Bonnie. She even lost her virginity to him and she knew that he genuinely loved and cared for her, but now…

Had it been a lie all along? Even through the time he hadn't cheated on her with April, had there been other girls?

She took another swig. Dark liquor had always been her liquor of choice; preferably whiskey or bourbon. She was probably the only one out of her friends that could tolerate it on any occasion; even if she were a bit of a lightweight. But right now, it was soothing the pain that wouldn't stop invading her chest every minute.

Even though she couldn't necessarily feel Kat curled up in a ball against her legs, she could see that her black cat was trying to provide her comfort. She may have been an animal, but Bonnie had no idea where she would be without her.

When Bonnie heard her front door click open, she immediately thought it was Caroline coming home. And because she was branded to the floor in her kitchen, she figured she would be seen sooner or later, because she had no intention of moving.

It was Matt who walked in. She heard him say her name, but it felt like a distant whisper, as he knelt down in front of her looking at her tear stained face.

"Caroline told me you and Ben got into it. You should have told me, I would have come home with you."

"Ben got a girl pregnant." There was no point in beating around the bush. As Bonnie took a larger gulp this time, she watched Matt's shocked expression turn into rage, and before he could make any movements, she grabbed his hand. Hopefully it was gentle, because she could barely feel his skin beneath her fingers. It wasn't a secret that Matt didn't like Ben, and this just added fuel to the fire.

"Please don't leave me." Bonnie never found herself begging for anything, but she needed her best friend's presence right now.

And she took a breath of relief when he decided to sit back with her and hold onto her hand. In this moment, she wished she could feel his touch.

"She's like seven months…." Her voice was hollow…barely there as the tears started up again. "She came here tonight and told me they had been with each other for a year."

"I'll kill him." She knew that it wasn't a threat but a promise as Matt spoke those words. He hated seeing her in any kind of pain, and always viewed himself as not only her brother and friend but a protector of sorts.

"I thought we were okay. After everything that's happened between us, I thought…" Bonnie attempted to bring the half empty bottle back to her lips, but Matt pulled it out of her grasp.

She didn't argue with him; didn't try to yank it back. She just stared into the flames that were no longer flickering, which really meant she was just imagining things.

"Drinking a whole bottle of whiskey isn't going to make this better."

And she knew that. "I'm just not done not feeling anything yet." Her voice was soft and it broke Matt's heart.

He then pulled her into his arms as the tears continued to fall from her eyes.

* * *

Damon had every intention of killing Ben Mckendrick tonight. He was going to put his hand through his chest and pull out what gave him his source of life. But, he wanted to finish using his face as a punching bag.

When Bonnie and Ben were in their heated argument at the Masquerade Gala, it was Caroline who had to stop him from going outside and breaking the idiot's neck. He would have inflicted the same harm on the blonde vampire, but he really didn't feel like attracting attention and compelling a whole building full of humans.

So, he decided to leave and waited for Ben at his doorstep. And now, he was punching the shit out of him… literally. After a few more blows to his face and abdomen, he prepared his fist to rip through Ben's heart.

Being thrown back against a tree hadn't been a part of the plan.

Damon stood up quickly and was seeing none other than the original vampire/werewolf hybrid, Klaus Mikaelson, standing in front of him. Though Damon may have been close to half a century, he wasn't stupid enough to get into it with one of the first vampires in existence; especially one with a werewolf side who's one bite could lead him into a very painful death.

Before Damon could say anything, Klaus's heavily accented voice filled the air. "Imagine me being inside a red headed witch when I receive a call from my sister who received a call from Ms. Caroline Forbes, informing her that you were here in this lovely city trying to get close to Bonnie." Damon didn't say anything. "Because you couldn't have possibly known that the protection spell that Sheila put on her would begin to falter by you entering her life earlier than you were supposed to."

Damon may have known that, but he also knew he could protect Bonnie.

"You also couldn't have possibly known that you being here would awaken her power and cause these obsessive, irritating rogues to find her? That if that bloody demon awakens before it's supposed too and gets Bonnie, then the phrase hell on earth is putting it mildly?"

Damon knew that too, but he was tired of Klaus's cynicism. "And why are you here?" He glared at The Original. "You thought you could what? Come back into Bonnie's life now that she's older, hoping that she would see you as more than just some father-figure guardian who skipped town as soon as Sheila died." Damon expected when Klaus's hand went around his throat and he expected when he slammed him against a tree; holding him in place. He would have been dead if he were human.

"You'll be careful how you talk to me." Klaus held nothing but pure threat and rage in his voice. "Need I remind you that I will kill you?"

"Need I remind _you_ that Bonnie is mine? So, stay away from her." He was able to move away from Klaus's grasp, but that was only because he let him.

It was a no brainer to Damon that Klaus had developed feelings for Bonnie and that was part of the main reason he left her after Sheila's death. Even if everyone thought the thousand year old hybrid was incapable of affection and hadn't found his life mate yet, he knew that Bonnie had warmed her way into his black heart. Sheila chose Klaus to be present in Bonnie's life since that day of the cookout, watching over them and being nothing more than a guardian at the end of the day, so it wasn't uncommon that a bond would form. But, what Damon wanted Klaus to understand was that Bonnie would never see him in the way that he saw her.

Klaus smirked, "Afraid that she may actually be more interested in me."

Damon's eyes turned red as the black veins appeared around them. At this moment, he didn't care how powerful Klaus was. He just had that instinct to kill.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Klaus could only give the temper headed vampire a few chances, before he caused excruciating harm among him. "The only reason I am not breaking your neck and hanging you from a tree right now is because I know what this lifemate curse can do to the parties involved. And I find myself being more lenient as of late."

Damon retracted his fangs and his appearance went back to normal as it grew silent between them.

"She keeps calling to me." Damon admitted. "She doesn't even realize it. I don't know how this bonded lifemate thing works, but I've stayed away for as long as I could. Not even I have that kind of will power. Maybe because she's a witch it's stronger, but I can't be away from her any longer." Damon didn't want to have this conversation with anyone, let alone Niklaus Mikaelson, but no matter how many times they got into it and threatened each other's lives, he considered Klaus a friend… well, an acquaintance that fought on the same side as him.

The sound of Ben's groans entered their ears, breaking the silence that had fallen among them again. "You think killing her fiancé is going to make you sit right with her."

"It would probably make her kill you both." Caroline Forbes made her presence known. She rushed up to Ben and tore into her wrist, allowing the blood to seep down his throat. "Are you both crazy?"She then looked into Ben's eyes. "You will forget all about this. Now go inside and go to sleep."

Once Ben went inside, Caroline turned to the vampire and hybrid, and crossed her arms. "What the hell is going on?"

"Nice to see you too, Caroline." Klaus let a wicked smile creep upon his lips. He remembered about a hundred years ago, he and Caroline spent a couple of years frolicking around the world. She was a firecracker that one.

Caroline rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what entered The Original's mind. "Anyways, doing this out in the open is a great way to get found out."

"That's what compulsion is for, love." Klaus stated. "Or ripping their hearts out. Whichever one I'm in the mood for that day."

"If I wasn't in a rush to get to Bonnie, I would…."

"Whine until our ears bled?" Damon interrupted, but didn't feel like getting into it with her. "I'll come with you."

She put her hand against his chest, halting him. "No you won't. That would be too many questions that I don't feel like answering right now." She left out the part that Matt called her and told her that Ben cheated on her and got a girl pregnant. Because then she wouldn't be able to stop Damon or Klaus from ripping Ben's heart out.

"Now, clean up the blood spilled here tonight, and the rest of the mess you both made." And then Caroline was gone.

Klaus and Damon never took orders from anyone, but they both knew that couldn't leave the outside of Ben's home trashed, just for him to walk outside and possibly remember.

"That bossy attitude of hers is going to make me kill her one day." Damon said.

"It does come in handy when she is…."

"Don't finish that sentence." Damon rolled his eyes. He knew that Klaus and Caroline had been intimate once upon a time, but he didn't need a visual. "Plus, my brother would probably gain enough strength to kill you."

Klaus would have laughed if he cared enough. "Not when he's shacking up with Katherine's doppelganger. How is Bonnie's little familiar anyways?"

"She's Katherine… but just a cat." Then it dawned on him. "Wait, am I the only one who didn't know that Katherine was a cat?"

It annoyed Damon that he always seemed to be the last one to find out things.

* * *

The next day seemed like a blur, up until Bonnie was sitting beside Ben at her dining room table. She vaguely remembered waking up this morning with Matt and Caroline on either side of her, providing the comfort she needed. And now, she was looking into the eyes of the man who had cheated on her for a year, with tears clouding her eyes. She barely comprehended his apologies about last night when he embarrassed her and called her out of her name.

"Bonnie, please say something." He begged. "I don't like the silent treatment from you. I know what I said last night was unforgivable, but baby I love y-"

"Do you remember when you proposed to me?" Bonnie asked softly, cutting him off. "It was raining. Very cliché right? We went inside your apartment and as I was getting some of your clothes to put on, I turned around to ask you a question and you were already on one knee." She wanted to smile thinking about that memory but a tear slid down her eye instead. "Do you remember?"

He nodded, "Baby, where is this coming from?"

"Do you remember that a month after you proposed, you pushed me into your dresser and I fell knocking my head on the corner of the end table?" She remembered it like it was yesterday. Ben got jealous over one of her male study partners and took it out on her. She was just thankful that she didn't have to go to the hospital.

Her eyes caught his again as he stared at her unable to process words. "I forgave you. You promised to never do it again so I forgave you because I loved you so much and we had already invested so much. And then you did it again and I was ready to leave, but you pulled me back in. But, that last time you stuck by your word and never did it again." A small dry chuckle escaped her lips. "My grams probably turned over in her grave that night when I forgave you for putting your hands on me… especially more than once."

"Bonnie, you don't know how sorry I am about what I did to you. But it's been over a year, I thought we were all about forgiving and forgetting."

"Who's April?" Her glossy eyes were now staring into his and that immediately shut him up.

And Bonnie sat there, giving him a death glare from hell, waiting for him to speak.

"She's… my… um, she's my assistant."

She scoffed, "She's your assistant? So you've been balls deep in your assistant for a year and now she's having your child? A real class act."

"Bonnie, it's not what you think?" He moved to touch her hand, but she pulled it away, stood up, and walked over to the couch.

"Of course it's not what I think, it's what _I_ know. She came here last night with pictures of the two of you!" She yelled. "Do you really think I'm that stupid?" The tears were coming again, but more from anger than sadness. "Maybe I am because I didn't even realize it."

He tried to provide comfort but she pushed him away. "Don't ever touch me again."

"Bonnie, I'm sorry."

"Yes, Ben, you are sorry. Did you propose to me because you felt guilty that you were going behind my back?"

When he didn't say anything her heart exploded.

"You had the audacity to get upset with me, push me around for a study partner, call me a slut for a stupid dance, and getting angry for having a male best friend who has been with me since I was a _child_, but all the while you're fucking some woman and getting her pregnant." She tried her best not to even think about how at times she and Ben didn't use a condom and that he was having unprotected sex with both of them. "I promise to everything I stand for, if I have caught anything from you, I _will_ kill you."

They both didn't notice the candles flickering on and off and they didn't even notice Kat enter the room.

They were both at a loss of words for a moment. Both Bonnie's and Ben's eyes were filled with tears.

"Was I not enough?" Bonnie thought she had all the confidence in the world in herself, but right now, she never felt so small… so worthless. "Did I not make you happy? I know I was busy but so were you… well, I thought you were."

"Bonnie you were more than enough. You still are. I don't know why I… she was just there, and you were always busy… you weren't there when I needed you."

"I was always there! I was always in this damn relationship." She yelled. "Why did you even propose to me? Why keep stringing me along? Why?"

"Because I love you, Bonnie! What I did with April was a momentary lapse in judgment. And I've just been helping her out because of the baby." He tried walking up to her again, but she continued to step away. "Bonnie, you don't know how sorry I am. If I could erase all of this, I would."

"You're sorry you got caught…. and you can't erase this." She pulled off her engagement ring; the ring that symbolized their love and the future they were supposed to have together, and handed it to him.

"Bonnie…"

"I've said everything I have to say." Trying to remain strong had faltered, because at the end of the day this was killing her. "Get out."

Before he walked out of the door, he turned around to face her again. "I will fix this. This will not be the end of us.

And when the door closed, there was nothing left to do but go into her room, and let all of the pain and anger that swamped her, escape her eyes.

* * *

Caroline Forbes had been listening to the whole thing. She lied and told Bonnie that she and Matt would get out of her hair for awhile. Matt left, but Caroline hid outside just in case it got ugly. She knew how Ben could be. And that's why she couldn't stand him in the first place. When she found out that he put his hands on Bonnie twice, she compelled him that if he ever did it again that he would step in front of a moving train. Apart of Caroline wished he would have stepped over that boundary today, so she could watch as his a train slammed into that useful waste of space; leaving him dead. But, she would put all of those thoughts out of head, because right now she needed to go comfort her friend.

* * *

The next week went by rather quickly and Bonnie felt like she was having an outer body experience. She was still able to finish all of her assignments, ace her exam, attend her internship with at least two bodies every day for her to perform work on, but she still felt as if she were lost. Apart of her wanted to be the girl to miss class and stay in bed all day as she wallowed through the pain, but she needed the distraction of what she wanted do for a career, to keep her sane. Upon her heartstrings being randomly pulled at throughout the day, she was a little bummed to find out that Mr. Salvatore was no longer her professor. The school found a new professor, so Damon's services were no longer needed. And she doubt that they would ever cross paths again.

As she was waiting on Matt to pick her up, so they could get to their shift at the Whitmore Pub and Club, there was a knock at the door.

After looking through the peep hole, she hesitated opening it, but when she did, Niklaus Mikaelson was standing before her. This must have been the icing on top of the cake. There was too much going on in her life right now and seeing Klaus after all these years was almost harder than getting cheated on. This man had practically raised her, and when her mother left her at a young age and her father took off on countless business trips, it was Klaus and Grams who took care of her. But, when she turned 16 and her grandmother died, a few days later, she never heard from Klaus again.

Broken didn't really sum up how she felt. After her Gram's died and he left, if it weren't for Matt and Caroline, she may not have made it.

"You look well…" His accented voice pulled her away from her thoughts. "Can I come in?"

She nodded allowing him access. "Matt's on his way to pick me up; we have to work tonight."

"How is the Donovan boy?"

"You would know if you would have stuck around." Bonnie knew her response was blunt and probably a bit cruel, but as of right now, she really didn't care. She was worn out to the point that the fucks that could have been given were nonexistent.

"I will say that I deserved that."

She stayed silent this time.

"Asking for forgiveness is not something I am usually equipped too, but I want to provide you with my sincere apologies for leaving those years ago…."

"Well I did fine without you." She said, as Kat jumped out of nowhere into her arms. She shook her head; her cat always had a thing for beautiful men. Especially every time Matt entered their apartment, she wouldn't stay away from him.

"I know." Klaus responded, staring at the little feline for a quick moment, before his eyes traveled back to Bonnie's. "Look, Bonnie…."

"I mean what do you want Klaus? You expected to leave after Gram's death; the woman who was nothing but nice and gracious towards you, and what? Come back like nothing ever happened? I didn't know if something had happened to you. You just left a note and then you were gone."

"There is a lot that caused my leaving. Things I can't tell you." He walked up to her, and she looked up at him.

It was the same eyes that had haunted his dreams.

"Well, newsflash, I'm not the same little girl that you had to take care of. I—"

Before she could say anything else, Matt walked through the door. "Klaus? I thought I saw you at the masquerade last night."

"Matt Donovan." He let a smile form to his lips. He actually liked the guy who was like a brother to Bonnie. "Good to see you again. I fair you have been taking care of yourself and dear Bonnie like I asked?"

Bonnie hoped she heard wrong. "Like _you_ asked?" She turned to Matt. "What is he talking about?"

Matt shrugged. "He asked me to look out for you before he left." And as Matt was saying those words, it was as if a cloud was cleared from his mind, remembering the day Klaus told him he was leaving. It seemed like after all of those years, he hadn't remembered until now.

Bonnie saw the confusion on Matt's face and the hidden worry on Klaus's. If they weren't running late to work, she would have asked more questions because something didn't feel right.

"Look," She eyed Klaus. "Somewhere deep down, I'm glad you're back. But, I need some time. You can't come back in my life and expect to have the same role you did before you left. It doesn't work that way."

"That's fair."

Bonnie and Matt left five minutes after Klaus did, and when Klaus saw them drive off, he walked back up to her apartment, and Katherine opened the door.

"Katerina Petrova." He said walking in.

"Niklaus Mikaelson."

"I seem to like you better as a cat."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "And you really weren't missed." She poured them both a drink. "Back when you left, did you really compel Matt to forget that he saw you leave?"

"And if I did."

She took a sip of her drink and sat down across from him. "I would say, don't do it again."

"If I wanted to kill Matt Donovan in front of your eyes I would do it. So, refrain from telling me what to do." He took a sip. "This lifemate thing has you and the Salvatore boy acquiring a death wish it seems."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Well, when you find yours…. and I'm sure you're aware that it's not Bonnie, then you'll know how it feels."

Klaus would have killed the Petrova vampire/ familiar right now, if she wasn't so important to Bonnie.

* * *

There were only two more hours until closing, and all of the customers seemed to be past their intoxication level. People were enjoying themselves, dancing, grinding, and most likely making babies on the dance floor. After Bonnie supplied three shots for a more than bubbly girl to take back to her friends, Caroline nudged her to take a shot with her and Matt. Usually Bonnie waited until the clientele at the bar died down a bit, but tonight she really didn't care.

They turned around and allowed the patron to slide down their throats. After turning back around to face the crowd, her heart did this painful jerk in her chest.

Ben was sitting down in front of her.

Before Bonnie could even make any type of movement, Caroline was in front of her, "You're not welcome here."

He didn't even acknowledge Caroline. "Bonnie, can we please talk?"

In a split second, Caroline almost let her rage get the best of her. She immediately thought about picking Ben up by the throat and throwing him across the room, but she didn't want to cause a scene. And she wasn't in the mood to get either Damon or Klaus to clean up her mess.

Bonnie interfered, before Caroline picked up one of the alcohol bottles and smash it in his face. She did that one time to a customer, and Bonnie was very surprised that she didn't get fired or sued. "Ben, there is nothing to talk about… especially at my job. You need to leave."

"Bonnie please, I left April. I love you."

Matt and Caroline continued to take people's orders, but still keeping an eye on them.

"You should have thought about that before you cheated on me for a year. Now, look, I don't want to see you anymore. We're through and we're never getting back together. Respect that and go."

He stood up. "Fine. But you'll never find anyone like me. And soon, you're going to come to me and beg me to take you back."

Bonnie didn't know how a few of the glasses shattered behind her, but it caused not only her, but the people at in front and behind the counter to jump.

When one of the bouncer's came to escort Ben out, Bonnie asked if Caroline could cover for her as she exited the building. She needed some fresh air.

* * *

Damon Salvatore was on his way to the Whitmore Pub & Club; which he thought was a very stupid name, but his only interest was seeing Bonnie, who he hadn't seen her in a week; which wasn't his doing by the way.

As he continued driving down the street, the sky opened up and the rain began to fall hard out of nowhere. There was no forecast of rain at all tonight. But when he saw Bonnie Bennett walking down the sidewalk in a daze, with the rain falling down around her, he knew where it was coming from.

Damon immediately stopped his car and went to her. As soon as his hands gently grabbed onto her shoulders, the rain began to fall on her, and she looked at him with all the pain and sadness hidden within her eyes.

Bonnie was definitely caught off guard when Damon came out of nowhere. She hadn't realized it had been raining or that she had traveled so far from her job. And why she traveled so far, she had no idea? It was as if something was tugging at her… pulling her strings like a puppet. And before she knew it, she was sitting in the passenger side of his car. She shivered a bit as he turned on the heat to make it warm for her. When she looked into his direction to provide a small smile, she got caught in his searing blue eyes.

"Is there somewhere I could take you?"

She had to get back to work, but honestly she didn't want too, and she never left work early….never missed any days at that. But, right now, she wanted to be anywhere but work. She was mad at herself for letting her mind be consumed with everything that happened with Ben. He did what he did, and she ended things; so why did she still feel the need to randomly cry and why was she still feeling this way? Was this how everyone felt like after a break up? Was this how she was supposed to feel? If so, she despised it.

"Bonnie?"

She wiped a tear that threatened to fall from her eye. She did not want to cry in front of this man whom she barely knew.

"I should get back to work…" her voice came off as a soft whisper. "Actually, would you mind taking me home please?" She sent a text to Caroline, promising that she owed her if she covered for her. "Actually, could you just… take me anywhere…?" She knew nothing about this man, but him being beside her, made the anxiety she had been feeling since she found out about Ben, come to a pretty calm standstill.

* * *

When Bonnie stepped inside of Damon's penthouse apartment, an expression between shock and amazement crossed her features. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. Even when she had been with Ben, who was extremely wealthy, she never witnessed this. It was jaw droppingly gorgeous. It looked like a Victorian style bachelor's pad, but enough for a woman to call home.

After she changed into a pair of his clothes, while he dried her wet ones, she was now sitting in front of him on stool at the counter, while he began to chop onions and peppers.

"Are you hungry? I haven't eaten all day and since you're here, it'd be nice if you'd join me."

"It's almost two in the morning." Bonnie was accustomed to snacking at around this time here and there, but never a full course meal.

"Sometimes that's the best time to eat."

He cooked balsamic chicken with a mushroom risotto, and it was probably one of the best things Bonnie had ever tasted in her mouth.

As they ate, Damon tried his best not to stare her down and attack her lips and other parts of her body. His fangs were itching to lengthen and sink into her and the veins around his eyes were very close to coming out. She looked ravishing in his clothes, even though he wanted to rip her out of them.

"So, do you want to tell me why you were walking alone in the rain?" He asked, trying to put his attention elsewhere, even though it wasn't working. He was also going to have a talk with Caroline after this. The fact that she allowed Bonnie to walk the streets of downtown Whitmore alone, but yet wanted to get mad at him for showing up, pissed him off.

She took the last bite of her chicken. "I don't think you want me to bore you with my troubles."

"You won't bore me." And she wouldn't. Damon could literally listen to her talk for ages.

"We made need a drink for this then."

His kind of woman, he immediately thought. "I have water, wine, bourbon…. that's it."

"Bourbon."

Damon was actually surprised for once.

"Trust me," She said, noticing his facial expression. "You're not the first person who gave me that look. Out of everyone I know I think I'm the only one who can stand the taste of bourbon, whiskey… anything brown, actually."

"It's my favorite drink too." He responded, wondering if her like for brown liquor had to do with how he felt over it.

They had been talking for an hour as Bonnie explained to Damon what happened with her and Ben. It didn't take Damon long to come to the conclusion that he was going to officially end Ben's life. Caroline and Klaus could go to hell if they thought they could stop him.

And as Bonnie loosened up and was a little over the edge of tipsy, she didn't mind asking him. "Are you dating anyone?"

He smirked. _Not yet_, came into his mind. "I don't date." It was true. He didn't date and never really thought about it until now.

Bonnie would have slapped herself for her embarrassing laugh that popped out, like she was a shy school girl getting hit on by her crush. She would definitely blame it on the alcohol.

"I had a dream about you once." She scooted closer to him, not remembering when they moved from the counter to the floor in his living room.

He knew exactly which dream she was talking about. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"I did…" Her voice came out like pure sex, and it made Damon's dick twitch.

"What did you enjoy about it?"

His voice gave her a tingle. She leaned in closer and whispered in his ear. "When you sat me on your desk in class, and decrypted Morse code on my pussy."

Damon turned to look at her, seeing all of the raw lust in her eyes. He wanted so bad to capture her lips with his and make her come until she lost count, but she was drunk and he couldn't take advantage of her. Yes, he was a bit tipsy himself, and vampires do get tipsy, but he was still pretty coherent. And he wouldn't do that to her.

"Will you make my dream a reality?" she asked. She pulled off the shirt of his she was wearing, revealing her pink lace bra, and his fangs almost lengthened.

"You're drunk. I'm not going to take advantage of you." But he didn't know how long he could hold his self-control.

"You wouldn't be taking advantage of me, if it's something I want."She was out of the shorts he provided for her, revealing a matching set of panties.

He had to close his eyes for a second, because he knew his veins were coming, and when she straddled him, his pants couldn't really hide the erection he knew she felt against her center.

"Bonnie, you don't know how bad I want you…"

"Then shut up and kiss me." She attacked his lips and what they both felt almost made them separate. It was like an intense surge of raw power. When they both lifted up to stare into each other's eyes, they tried to catch their breaths from the intensity of the kiss.

Damon brought her head back down to kiss her again, and the next thing he knew, he had her lying on her back as he positioned his weight between her legs. He wanted nothing more than to satisfy both of their urges and fuck her for a year straight, knowing she would still beg for more. But he couldn't.

When she moaned out as his hands began to travel down her side and caress her thigh, Damon lost it. Bonnie couldn't hide the minor scream that she made when she saw the red eyes, the veins, and the fangs appear upon him. He dove into her carotid and took greedily from her. She had every intention of struggling from him, but this feeling washed through her, causing her to like what he was doing.

Damon knew he didn't take much from her, but when he lifted up, she was sound asleep. Her blood was nothing short of amazing, and he wanted to keep going. All he knew was that the next time she would be sober and he would be inside her while taking her blood.

It was a little close to six in the morning when Bonnie's eyes shot open, as she awoke from the same dream she had a couple of weeks ago, where Damon, Caroline, and Klaus had fangs and strange looks on their faces. She looked around and realized she wasn't in her bed, and then she noticed Damon sleeping right next to her. She could barely remember anything after she told Damon what happened with her and Ben, but she did begin to feel a sore feeling upon her neck.

When she made her way into his bathroom, she realized she was just in her bra and panties, but that wasn't what made her eyes widen. It was the bite mark upon her neck. And that's when a vast amount of memories entered her mind, as if she were watching it like a movie. She watched as she got tipsy early this morning and coming on to Damon, practically begging him to have sex with her, she watched them making out and she also saw the look in his eyes and the fangs descend from his mouth as he bit into her, and what surprised her the most, was that it looked as if she were enjoying it. The scene before her then turned into that night a couple of weeks ago in the morgue. She remembered seeing Damon's dead body being brought in on a stretcher with a broken neck and deep lacerations. She watched as his bones popped back into place. She saw her being picked up from behind and thrown into medical equipment and being impaled on a sharp object and then she saw Damon fighting the three abnormal mean, and then he was kneeling in front of her as her eyes closed.

Once the memories disappeared, she had to grip onto the sink to keep herself standing upright.

She didn't even have to think twice as she ran out of his room and to the dryer to get her clothes. She grabbed them, thinking that she would dress outside, and then grabbed her purse on the kitchen counter. And as she got to the door, Damon appeared in front of her and she almost fell back.

"Bonnie…"

"Stay away from me." She held her hands out, hoping he wouldn't come any further.

"Let me explain what's going on."

"Just stay away."

He tried walking up to her and out of instinct, not caring that she was just in her undergarments, she kicked him, but he caught her leg in the quickest reflex she ever saw. She was about to punch him, but he grabbed her arm and turned her around, before her fist could connect with his face. She then head butted him, causing him to stumble a little, because he wasn't expecting that. But he recovered quickly, and closed the door that she was trying to open.

"Bonnie, I'm not going to hurt you."

"T-then let m-me l-leave." Her words came out on a stutter as her heart continued to pound frantically.

"Not until you let me tell you what's going on."

She turned around slowly and looked into his eyes. As much as she wanted to calm down, she couldn't. She was terrified and then out of nowhere, Damon began to grab his head and yell in pain.

Bonnie didn't know what was happening, but she didn't stay to find out.

* * *

**A/N: What did you all think? This chapter was a low point for Bonnie, but we also got to see a drunken side of her. And now that she's figuring everything out, how will all that come into play? And then we learned a tiny bit more about Klaus, and even Katherine and Matt being lifemates. But of course, Matt doesn't know lol. Hope you all enjoyed! Please review =) **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading and your reviews for the last chapter! It really means a lot! Hope you all enjoy! =)**

* * *

A dream she could handle… a nightmare she could deal with. Those imaginative mental pictures weren't real and the majority of the time she would end up forgetting about them anyways.

Bonnie would give anything to be dreaming right now… to wake up and realize that it had all been some abnormal nightmare; to learn that vampires really weren't real and were only a figment in books and movies around the world. That she didn't end up making out with one, possibly going further if he didn't stop her.

As the water flowed down her body, she didn't even feel the heat against her skin or notice the steam filling up the bathroom like a sauna. Her mind was lost in thought with everything that occurred in the last thirteen hours; almost as if she were in a trance. It was all one big cluster mind fuck, to where she didn't know if she were handling it well or if she were falling apart internally.

The latter was probably taking a lead.

Between everything that happened with Damon early this morning and then coming home to seeing Caroline and Niklaus fighting each another with dark veins encircling their eyes and sharp pointers extending from their mouths, she didn't know how to get a grasp on reality.

Learning that supernatural beings existed on this earth made her wonder if she should admit herself to the psych ward just to keep a hold of what little sanity she may have left. She even went as far as pinching herself numerous times in hopes that she would snap out of it and wake up.

As she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body, her eyes found her neck in the mirror and the bite mark exposed on her skin, was clearing faster than she expected. Before she got into the shower, it was deep and blood was still escaping it, but now… now it looked like a faint scar.

Bonnie ended up sliding down until she was sitting on the floor against her sink. She thought about how she was supposed to be out in the living room having a conversation with Caroline to get everything out on the table soon, but she wasn't sure if she even wanted to learn more. Sometimes the more blind you are in situations could save you in the end.

She could still remember all of the events from this morning replaying in her head like watching a movie at the theater. She remembered jumping out of the taxi cab, tripping on an untied shoe lace and almost landing face first in the pavement. She recalled paying the cab driver who didn't even bother to ask if she were alright and then she made her way inside her apartment. She didn't even have time to catch her breath when she walked in to see her cat being thrown across the room by Klaus, and Caroline charging at him with inhuman speed.

They stalled when they saw her.

And what happened next, she didn't understand. They began to grab their heads like Damon did earlier. Klaus bent over and Caroline fell to the ground, even Kat began to make otherworldly cat noises.

_"B-Bonnie… s-stop…" _Caroline begged.

_Stop what?_ The thought crossed her mind immediately. Was she doing this to them? Her head began to hurt tremendously and she began to feel a warm liquid seeping out of her nose.

Klaus was in front of her before she could fathom anything, grabbing onto her shoulders softly.

_"Bonnie, love, listen to my voice. Calm yourself."_

Bonnie could still feel how gentle Klaus's words were against her skin as her eyes connected with his. She even remembered how it felt as if she were in some type of daze. That even though she was frightened, she had this urge not to be.

"_You should take a seat."_

It was like she was given a sedative or if she were being hypnotized or something as she sat on the couch. Her hands instantly began petting Kat as she snuggled up on her lap.

_"Klaus, you can't just compel her?"_ She heard Caroline say.

Bonnie glared at them. _"What… what's going on? What are you? Who are you?"_

_"Get her something for her neck and her nose."_ Klaus ordered Caroline.

Caroline got everything for her neck in no more than five seconds.

Her eyes stayed connected with Klaus as the sting on her neck caused her to flinch.

_"You are going to go to your room, go to sleep and then we'll talk about this later after you've had your rest." _He said.

Her mind felt foggy, and every part of her wanted to get up and do what he commanded, but she didn't.

_ "I'm not going anywhere until I know what's going on."_

She noticed the shocked expression on both his and Caroline's face after she spoke those words.

"_Bonnie, you really need to rest."_ Caroline pleaded, clearly worried for her friend.

_"I said no!"_ Bonnie practically shouted, and a few glasses shattered in the kitchen causing her to jump.

And that's when they told her that vampires were real and that she was supposedly a witch. Everything after that seemed to be a blur as she stood up on shaky legs and retreated to her room, where she had been ever since.

After she popped a couple of ibuprofens and took a deep breath, she figured it was now or never to get everything out in the open.

* * *

When she walked out of her room, she saw Caroline sitting on the couch with a bottle of Jack Daniels and two glasses on the coffee table.

"Where's Klaus?" she asked, grabbing the drink and sitting down across from her.

"I convinced him that it would be better if I talked to you about this alone."

They stayed silent for a moment. Bonnie took a sip from her drink, letting the liquor ease its way down her throat.

"I'm all ears." She finally said, after one more rather large gulp.

"I know this morning you were a bit out of it, but to sum it all up, I'm a vampire, you're a witch, and the supernatural is real." Caroline took a drink as well, knowing exactly when Bonnie's heartbeat sped up.

"This… this just doesn't make any sense." She was now pouring a lot more into her glass; knowing that soon she would be drinking out of the bottle.

"Sheila… your grams, got us together for your first birthday and asked us to protect you at certain points in your life…"

Bonnie's eyes widened in shock.

"And before you say anything, just because we were chosen to come into your life to protect you doesn't mean I don't care about you, Bonnie. You are literally my best friend in this world. Throughout my whole existence there has never been anyone like you."

Silence filled the air again as Bonnie took another drink.

"Say something… please."

Oh right, she had stopped talking. "You said whole existence? How old are you…"

"Two hundred, but I died when I was twenty- three, so I'll look like this forever."

Another gulp was taken. She really needed to be tipsy to process all of this information. No, she needed to be full on sloppy drunk.

"You said you were sent here to protect me? Protect me from what?"

Caroline decided to hand her the bottle, knowing that everything else she was about to tell her couldn't be contained in just a small glass.

Bonnie took it from her without any hesitation.

"There is a demon that will rise in a couple years and he wants to use you and your blood to wipe out the human race by either killing them or making them his servants. And he wants to take our abilities and absorb them as his own to be even more unstoppable then he already is, and then we'll either end up dead or under his command…. or worse."

A rather larger gulp of the whiskey went down Bonnie's throat. "So, that term hell on earth…"

"Applies in this situation." Caroline finished her sentence.

"I think I need to sit down."

"Honey you are sitting down."

Bonnie put down the bottle and put her head in her hands. "This just doesn't make sense." Her eyes then connected with Caroline's. "Why didn't anyone tell me if I'm the key to all of this?"

"Your grandmother was a very powerful witch. She didn't want this life for you, even though it was inevitable. She put a protection spell around you from rogues finding out about you and taking you to wake him up early."

"Rogues…?" Bonnie asked, as she began to feel the effects from the alcohol.

"Vampires who have gone astray and who are working with the demon to bring about hell on earth." She answered.

"They were the ones who attacked me at the morgue? Their faces were…"

"Different from ours? Yes. When you conform over from a vampire to practically following a demon, their faces don't change like ours do, they become more contorted…deformed. They accept true darkness into them, and what they had left of a soul is gone. That's what attacked you that night."

Bonnie grabbed the bottle again.

"Bonnie, the thing is the demon is going to arise in a little over two years. He will be coming for you. Sheila's protection spell was designed to help you until that time came, but now that you are coming into your powers, it's going to start wearing off and the rogues will be able to find you easier, which means that if they get you and take you to where he is and wake him up before he's supposed to, it will be way worse than what I just told you."

"So, pretty much what I'm hearing is that I'm going to die."

Caroline's eyes connected with hers as she watched the tears form in her best friend's eyes. "I'm not going to let that happen. None of us will."

"And by us, you mean you, Klaus, and Damon." Her words were slurring and becoming a little incoherent.

"And Hayley and Katherine, and…"

"Hayley?!" She practically yelled. "She's a vampire too?"

"Well, no, she's a werewolf, but that's beside the point." Caroline was in front of her in an instant, causing Bonnie to jump a bit. She grabbed her hands. "Bonnie, I am not going to let anything happen to you. I promise."

Bonnie was ready to wake up now as Caroline continued filling her in on more information. Finding out that her grandmother was a witch who befriended Caroline, Klaus, Damon, Hayley, and other supernatural beings, that were looking out for her in other parts of the world, made her really need to lie down for a few days.

"Are you okay?" It was a stupid question to ask, but Caroline didn't know what more to say.

Bonnie just gave her a look and took one more drink from the bottle, before she dropped it and the liquor fell to the ground. "I just found out that two of my best friends are a vampire and a werewolf, Klaus…my guardian who skipped out on me 6 years ago is one of the first vampire hybrid things or whatever to walk the earth, the man I've been having sexual dreams about, that I made out with, and let bite me, is a vampire who is supposedly bonded to me… which I don't understand, and I come from a very long line of witches. Oh, and let's not forget that I'm apparently needed for some sacrificial sacrifice for a demon. And all of this is really real and I'm not dreaming, so _no_ I'm not okay."

Kat then trotted in and sat by Bonnie's feet.

"Next thing you're going to tell me is that Kat is really a human."

Caroline gave her a look. "Well….."

And before their eyes, Kat transformed into a very naked human being, and Bonnie threw up before Caroline could get Katherine a robe.

It didn't take long for Bonnie to pass out into a drunken stupor. After Caroline put her in bed, she began cleaning up the mess that was made.

"That went better than expected."

Caroline shot her a look. "Are you kidding me? This was awful. She hates us." She said, now sitting down and taking a drink from the rest of the liquor that didn't fall on the floor. "This is all Damon's fault."

"It could have been worse. She could have crushed whatever you have left of a brain and set the whole house on fire without even realizing it." She smirked and went into the kitchen to grab the vodka. "And she won't hate us. She just needs some time." She took a swig. "The thing about our dear Bonnie is that she accepts a lot of things, but she just needs time to herself to breathe. Not only did she find out that the supernatural is real, but that she's a witch who has a death sentence if we can't protect her. And that she is bound to someone who is four hundred years older than her. It's a lot to process. We just need to give her time."

Caroline just looked at her with wide eyes.

"What?"

"When did you become so thoughtful? For centuries, you've been nothing but a bitch."

Katherine shrugged. "Oh trust me, I'm still a bitch. But Bonnie is… I've been around Bonnie her whole life. Granted, I've been a cat, but I've seen every side of her that not a lot of people have, not even Klaus. So, of course I would never be a bitch towards her."

"Or Mattie blue eyes?" Caroline teased.

"I may have survived as a cat for twenty-two years, but I can still end your 200 year old blond ass."

Caroline stuck her tongue out at the doppelganger she wished she didn't bare the same face as.

Katherine smirked, "Just because I look like someone you can't stand because she took your…"

"She did not take anything from me." She snapped. "Let's change the subject. What are we going to do? You know there is only so much Damon will tolerate in being away from Bonnie now, and we really can't tell Klaus what to do, and now she's coming into her powers and the rogues will be able to find her a lot easier, and if they get her and awaken…"

Katherine punched her, not caring that her vamp eyes came out. "You are going to calm down first of all. We have reinforcements we can call. Nothing is going to happen to Bonnie."

Because at the end of the day, they would all die to prevent that.

* * *

After class the next day, Bonnie didn't stick around to talk with Hayley or Matt. Even though Matt was human and knew nothing that was going on, she still needed some time alone to process everything.

Deciding to skip her workout today, she was going to go straight to the library to study for an upcoming exam until it was time for her internship tonight. Going home just wasn't an option right now.

Trying to flag down a taxi was probably her most difficult task in the city of Whitmore. As she waited for one to stop, a male voice entered her ears.

"Are the taxis this hard to stop here?"

"You wouldn't believe." She turned to face the guy, and noticed that he wasn't bad on the eyes. "You must be new here?"

"You could say that, I've only visited this place a few times years ago. And a lot has changed since I've been here."

"Taxis not stopping being one of them?" she smiled, finally able to flag down one that stopped in front of her.

"I was going to say not as many pretty women like you back then."

Bonnie knew her cheeks probably held a little pink to them, as she opened the cab, but stayed looking at him. "It was nice meeting you….?

"Stefan."

"It was nice meeting you, Stefan."

He kissed her hand. "The pleasure is all mine, Bonnie."

Sliding into the taxi, the thought hit her that she didn't provide her name, but the turmoil with that information vanished and focused on Damon who was now sitting beside her. She had every intention of getting out of the cab and making a run for it, but his words stopped her.

"Getting out of this cab wouldn't be good for anyone in here."

Her heart sped up as she looked at him and then to the cab driver.

"Don't worry, he's compelled to ignore and forget all of this when we get out of the car."

Her signature glare appeared on her face and yet she was trying to hide the fact that she was scared and uncomfortable. "What do you want? Caroline filled me in on everything."

"I'm sure she did." He rolled his eyes. Knowing Caroline she probably told Bonnie that he was a psychotic womanizer, who liked to kill and torture others, and maybe that could have been true to some extent, but that wasn't the point. "Look, Bonnie…"

The way he said her name made her upset because unintentional shivers made its way down her spine.

"Last night I didn't… I didn't mean…" He stopped himself because he would be lying if he told her he didn't mean for it to get as far as it did. In all honesty, he wanted it to go further. Her body and blood was like a new source of life against his fingertips and his mouth. It was a thousand times better than the dreams he bestowed upon her.

"I already know about the whole bonded supernatural crap," She cut him off. "And honestly, I don't believe in that, so…"

"Your beliefs will change when you get to know me." His eyes captured hers. "I'm not a bad guy."

"You're not a guy at all, you're a vampire." She felt crazy for even saying it. "Destined to be together or not, I don't want it, so you can get out."

"I was here first."

"Then let me leave."

"Is that what you want?"

He got closer, his blue eyes melting into her green ones. Was it wrong that a part of her was getting turned on while the other part wanted her to run for the hills to knock some sense into her behavior?

And that's when it hit her. "Are you trying to compel me?"

He blinked his eyes. "N-"

"If you think that I would submit to you freely then you're mistaken."

"I couldn't compel you even if I wanted too. So, the way your body is reacting to mine… the way your heart is speeding up, that's because you actually want me, _Bon-Bon_."

It could have been the fact that she had to study, and not even the supernatural could rip her away from her career goals, even if she were on death's list, or the fact that Damon wasn't just making her angry but turning her on, but when she watched him grab his head in pain, she knew that little ability that happened yesterday, returned.

And Bonnie was out of the cab, leaving him there in pain, in no time.

* * *

Bonnie Bennett considered herself to be a strong individual. She was never one to intentionally play the victim card, because that could get old very quickly. Every bad thing that had occurred in her life was just a stepping stone in pushing her harder to succeed. Was she sad? Yes. Maybe even sometimes she considered herself going through mild depression here and there, but she tried her best not to dwell on it. She never wanted people to feel sorry or pity her. Even when Ben cheated on her, it still hurt her to her core. Granted it hadn't been that long since everything hit the fan, but there are still times that it would hit her that they were no longer together; that he had violated her trust…violated her love. And now, with everything that she just found out about herself and the people around her, it was literally just too much going on at once.

"You would think after all the information you have found out, you wouldn't want to leave your house, love."

Bonnie jumped a little when she heard Klaus's voice.

"Don't be frightened of me, Bonnie. I've known you your whole life."

"That means nothing to me." She backed up a bit. "You left for years and now your back and I'm finding out you're some thousand year old vampire hybrid. Please excuse me if I'm a little scared for my life."

"Bonnie I would never allow anything to happen to you."

"Oh right, because you made a promise to my Grams. Well, since she's dead I'm sure you'll break it."

"If I wanted too, I would have a long time ago." He walked a little closer to her; almost as if he were a predator going after his prey.

She shook her head. "You should leave. You're not supposed to be here if you don't work here."

"I'm subbing for that Canton fellow. He had a nasty fall yesterday." His nonchalant accented voice filled the room. "I'm surprised you weren't informed."

She wasn't, and by the look on his face, she could tell that he had something to do with it, and she really didn't feel up to asking or learning that he did.

She turned away from him, trying to hold in the tears that wanted to come.

"Bonnie-"

"Why did you leave me?" Her voice was soft; almost as if she felt defeated. "Why did you leave after Gram's died? I needed you. I needed you there with me and you just… you didn't even tell me where you were going. I didn't even know if you were hurt or dead. You just left…"

When she turned around, he was mere inches away.

Her glossy eyes found his and she could see this strain beneath his eyes.

"And for that I am sorry. I was trying to protect you."

"You could have done that here."

"It was better for you that I hadn't."

"You shouldn't have taken that choice away from me!" She pushed at the wall of his chest, but he didn't move… didn't budge, and he allowed it.

Klaus's arms wrapped protectively around her while everything that she had been holding in snuck up on her, causing her to cry in his arms. She just needed a moment to let it all out and then she would be able to accept it all and be okay.

It was known that Klaus was never one to show emotion or embrace anyone for the matter, but it was also no secret that Bonnie was different to him.

* * *

Bonnie didn't expect to end up in the passenger's side of Damon's car again; especially after everything that happened earlier today in the taxi. After her internship was over and catching up with Klaus, he ended up leaving to handle business. Originally it was supposed to be Caroline who picked her up, but it was Damon standing outside against his car when she walked out.

She almost didn't get in the car, but she was in need of sleep before her class started in five hours, and that trumped everything else. Plus, he promised to be on his best behavior.

And surprisingly they didn't say much until he got closer to their destination.

"I'm sorry about earlier." It was hard for him to apologize but he was able to manage.

"This is difficult for you, isn't it? Apologizing?" she asked, glancing over at him.

"More than you'll know."

They stayed silent for a moment, but Bonnie ended up breaking it. "Look, Damon, this is all still very new to me. I still have a lot of questions and I'm still questioning my sanity right now. I don't know why I'm feeling things for you when I don't even know you. And blaming it on some supernatural bond I know nothing about, makes it that much harder and crazier for me. You've saved my life that day in the morgue, and I know you've been protecting me since I was born. I'm grateful for that, but I don't know you. I don't know anything right now. You can't expect me to fall face first into your arms and be with you forever…. and I'm sure you can't want that either."

And by the way she was putting it, no, he didn't want that. He had never been in love. He didn't seem to believe in it. And the urges he had for her, he blamed on the bond, but he couldn't deny the fact that when he was near her, something pulled at him. Even with her sitting next to him, everything about her was making his mouth water. It was like a sheer feeling that he wanted to drown in.

As he pulled up to her apartment, they noticed a lot more cars in the apartment complex than usual. Damon noticed one of the cars being his brother's 1963 Porsche 356 Karmann. He remembered seeing Stefan talking to Bonnie outside of the taxi and knew he was going to have a little brotherly chat with him later. He didn't even know he was coming into town.

"Someone must be having a party." She thought as they pulled up. And maybe somewhere in the back of her mind she knew all of the owners to those vehicles were in her apartment.

When Damon dropped her off in the front, to find a place to park, even though she suggested he go home, Bonnie walked up to her door and turned around immediately when she felt someone behind her.

It was Ben.

She really didn't need this at all right now.

"Ben, what are you doing here?"

"I've been waiting for you to come home from the morgue all night. Bonnie can we please talk."

"No. Ben, we've said everything we've had to say. You really need to leave."

He grabbed her arm a little roughly, and that's when she heard it get quiet inside. "Bonnie, please, I love you."

And then she noticed Damon standing behind Ben with his vamp face on.

_Oh, shit._ She'd really like to wake up now.

* * *

**A/N: What do you all think? I really hope you enjoyed it! I do want to say that I do plan to make this a long chapter fic. We have two years until the demon arises (well possibly) but it's not just going to be 'let's save everyone and hide in a corner.' New characters will also be introduced next chapter. So, I hope you continue to take this journey with me! Thanks for reading and please review! =)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you all so much for everyone who has read, reviewed, favorite, and followed. It really means a lot. Would you all believe me if I told you I've been writing this chapter for a couple of weeks now? Well, I have and I'm not extremely happy with it, but hopefully you all like it! Sorry for the wait.**

* * *

"Matt wake up!" Bonnie screamed. But even as her voice held pain and sadness and the tears were streaming down her face, she knew it fell upon deaf ears. "Matt, please wake up… please don't leave me." She shook him hard enough that she probably cracked his ribs.

Blood was seeping out of his abdomen and now his nose. She had no way of getting him out of wherever they were. What was the use of being a witch with powers if she couldn't do anything about it? If she couldn't save her best friend?

He didn't deserve to be in this mess. This was her fault and she was about to watch her best friend die.

"Matt…." She cried, and when she couldn't feel his pulse anymore, she screamed. "No!"

Bonnie remembered waking up from that nightmare a couple of days ago, in a cold sweat. And even thought it had been just a dream, she couldn't stop replaying it over and over in her head. She just prayed that it wasn't some type of sign of what's to come.

As she sat in the break room behind the bar at the Whitmore Pub & Club, she took a minute to catch her breath. She was actually looking forward to not having class for the next two weeks, and that was definitely unlike her. Being one of the few people that actually enjoyed going to class, even on holidays, definitely shocked her that she was okay with completing her assignments online. But she needed these two weeks; actually she was pretty sure she needed two years to sort out her brain and understand everything. Because even though sheer evidence was presented to her face that this whole other world was real, it was still hard to grasp. And the fact that she was part of that crowd too, slowly coming into powers that freaked her out more than excited her, definitely made her think twice about her sanity.

"Bonnie, is everything going okay with you?"

Bonnie immediately jumped out of her skin when she heard Matt's voice. She didn't even notice him walk in.

"Shit, you scared me." She grabbed her heart.

He apologized. "You haven't seemed like yourself in awhile. Did you and Caroline have a fight or something?"

She immediately shook her head. "Why would you think that?"

"Because we've been here for a couple hours and she's not acting like herself and you two have barely said one word to each other."

"It's just a lot going on right now." She confessed.

"And when have you ever kept things from me?" Bonnie could tell just by the tone of his voice that he was a bit hurt by the fact that she wasn't being honest with him. Matt knew her better than anyone, and knew when she was hiding something.

"You know I could never keep anything from you. But right now, I just can't tell you everything. Please trust me and understand that."

And she was glad that Matt was the type of friend that did.

"Well, before we go out there, I'm tired of seeing you moping around. We have a long shift tonight and a lot of people are out there and more are still coming, so here." He pulled out something Bonnie hadn't done in years.

"Take a few hits of this and you'll forget your troubles for the night."

"Really Matt?" she laughed. "And how am I going to get through this shift?"

"Get a few drinks in you too, it'll mellow you out."

"Mellow my ass under the bar is more like it." She said, but took a hit anyways.

Leave it to Matt to try and make her feel better, even if he was oblivious to everything going on around them. Hell, she really wished she still was right now.

Bonnie didn't know how much more she took before Caroline walked in, but she knew that it was hitting her extremely fast.

"Really, you come in here to check on Bonnie and you decide to get her high?" Caroline closed the door behind her, leaving the bar unattended.

Bonnie let out a small chuckle, knowing it really wasn't funny, and yet still pretty astounded that a few puffs were making her like this… like she was almost seeing two of everything. "Matt, what the hell is this?"

"Something new." He answered, never one to reveal his sources. "Caroline, you should try it too." He handed her another one that he had.

Bonnie interrupted. "Would it even work on you?"

Caroline shot her a look, glad Matt wasn't really paying attention. "Of course it works." She took a few hits. "Just takes a little longer for me."

"That's why I have three more." He showed them. "Now take a shot of this." He handed them a bottle of tequila. "And let's get back out there before we get fired."

After taking the shots, Matt walked out first and before Bonnie could, Caroline grabbed her arm gently, "Me and you… are we okay?"

Bonnie had to blink a few times to stop seeing two of Caroline. "We have a lot of people out there. Can we just talk later?" Part of the reason was because giving the silent treatment to Caroline these last couple of days was a pretty bitchy move, and the other reason was because whatever Matt gave her and the shot of alcohol she took wasn't really letting her form as many words.

Caroline reluctantly nodded, and followed her best friends out to continue to their shift. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

"You know if you stare any harder you may burn a hole through her." Katherine Petrova accused the original hybrid as she took a gulp of her scotch.

"Why don't you go shoo along Katerina, you are making me itch." His eyes never leaving Bonnie at the bar.

She rolled her eyes. "You know it's pretty pathetic that you're harboring a torch for someone else's lifemate, and it's extremely disgusting because you've watched over her since she was an infant."

"Harboring a torch? You've been alive for what….over five hundred years? And that's the terminology you decide to stick with?" Changing the subject, his eyes glanced at Matt. "And what about you? You really think Matt is going to accept you? That he's going to find you interesting?"

"Actually, yes I do. He's been eyeing me all night." She looked at the bar and winked at him.

"You'll most likely just be a well needed shag for him." Klaus smirked taking a sip of his drink. "Well, maybe not well needed."

"You weren't complaining several hundred years ago."

"Not to your face, pet."

She scoffed; sometimes she wanted to wring the hybrid's neck… well, most of the time actually.

"Have you figured out why you're not able to fully compel her yet?" Katherine asked. That was the thing between she and Klaus; most of the time she and everyone. They could get into it, call each other names, and then not even a few minutes later have a civil conversation.

Klaus didn't answer, and he knew that Katherine would pick on. He hadn't found out about that. He was able to compel anyone, vampires, werewolves, and witches… even rogues, but Bonnie was a different story. And he really didn't know why. But he made it his mission to find out.

"Maybe it's for the best then. We've sheltered her way too long." Her eyes then glanced back up to bar and when she saw Matt wink at her, she looked at Klaus. "That's my cue. Try to move around a bit, you look disgustingly creepy sitting over here by yourself."

"Try not to have him running for the hills like you do everyone else."

Earning another eye roll from Katherine, she made her way to the bar.

* * *

"I'm surprised Elena didn't accompany you on this trip." Caroline said to Stefan, as she wiped up around the bar.

"She had some things to take care of back in California."

"I bet." She then poured herself a drink and took a shot right in front of him.

"Being high and drunk while working, I'm surprised you, Bonnie, and Matt aren't fired yet."

The look she gave him was that of pure anger. "Stefan, why don't you go over there with your brother who has every girl throwing their breasts at him while he eye fucks Bonnie to death, and just leave me alone?"

"Caroline, can we please not fight. I haven't seen you in-"

"22 years, and before that thirty." A pang jumped in her chest."We have nothing to say." Caroline may have been a two hundred year old vampire, who could contain her emotions and was an experienced killer, but even after all the years they had been apart, Stefan still had an effect on her. And thought they both knew why, the agreement to be away from each other was mutual.

And when his hand touched hers, almost out of normal instinct, she pulled away. "Just leave me alone Stefan… please…"

Caroline walked to the middle of the bar to deal with a few customers. She couldn't handle Stefan being here. Of all the people who decided they were going to make a trip down here, he just had to be one of them.

This lifemate bond she had with him was complete and utter bull shit. And they were probably one of the only ones who decided not to act on it and stay apart.

* * *

Around _1_ am, Bonnie was just now coming down from her high. With laughing uncontrollably, flirting with every guy she served a drink too, and joining in a group dance with Matt and Caroline behind the bar, she was definitely a little winded. She was just glad that she was having a little break while everyone was on the dance floor participating in one of the newest line dances.

But with that little break came being aware of the supernatural's in the building tonight; the people she was desperately trying to ignore to give her mind a little sanity.

If it wasn't Damon sitting at the other end of the bar constantly looking at her, while having every busty bimbo come and talk to him or buy him a drink, it was Klaus sitting in the far back of the club, casually sipping a drink, with his eyes on her. Caroline in an intense conversation with the guy she met earlier yesterday waiting on her cab; Stefan. And she learned that Stefan was actually Damon's younger brother. Then there was her feline, Katherine who decided to be a human today, who hadn't left Matt's vision. That only left Hayley dancing with Klaus's sister Rebekah Mikaelson, that she hadn't seen since she was seven years old, and Tyler Lockwood, who she hadn't seen since her freshmen year of high school, and they use to be pretty good friends.

"You've got to stop looking at me." Bonnie said as she poured another glass of Bourbon for Damon.

"What else am I supposed to do?" She'd blame the fact that her ovaries almost crashed landed on the weed and alcohol, instead of his voice.

"Pay attention to the women who keep throwing themselves at you." She almost didn't recognize her own voice. Did she sound like she was flirting? Was this her sexy voice?

"I'd rather pay attention to the woman who decided to get high and drunk behind the bar." He said taking a sip of his drink. Damon had to control himself since he'd walked in here. Ever since Bonnie decided to go to the back with Matt and Caroline and get high, she had been extra friendly to the men who decided they wanted to keep buying rounds of drinks, just to be in her presence.

"Caroline's over there."

He glanced at Blondie and his brother chatting it up, and he was glad it was noisy, because he didn't feel having his vampire hearing pick up on whatever argument they were getting into now.

"Shouldn't I get some credit for not killing your ex a couple days ago?"

"Oh, yes, thank you Damon for not killing my ex fiancé. I really appreciate it." Her sarcasm was not missed.

If it weren't for the look of horror and sadness on Bonnie's face when Damon turned his vamp face on behind Ben, Damon would have caused him some bodily damage. And then apparently all of the supernatural beings in her house would have finished him off.

Sometimes Bonnie felt that she was surrounded by psycho paths.

"You're welcome." He shrugged nonchalantly.

She rolled her eyes. "We're going to be closing soon. You should go."

"You really want to get rid of me that bad Bonnie? I've told you, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to protect y-."

"I don't need your protection." She slurred.

"Well if I wasn't here tonight, I would have to waste my time in trying to locate all of the guys who have hit on you tonight. It'll be easier to just kill them now."

Bonnie was going to blame everything he said on the fact that_ she_ was intoxicated right now, but that didn't stop her from shattering one of the glasses at the bar, causing Caroline and Stefan to look her way.

And Matt decided that it would be okay to not work and go dance with her human cat, so he didn't see or hear anything.

"Is everything okay over here?" Caroline asked, walking up.

Damon shot her a glare.

"Everything's fine." Bonnie lied. "I think I need some fresh air." She walked back into the break room and walked outside.

Bonnie was honestly trying her best to come to terms with everything. All of this new information still had her freaking out, and the fact that she was incoherent at the moment, she really just needed a minute to breathe.

Bonnie leaned against the wall outside, not caring that she was in the alley; forgetting about the many germs that was probably plastered on the wall, and took a deep breath. She felt like she was having an outer body experience sometimes; that maybe she was just in this dream and had yet to wake up.

"I had to almost fight a vampire and a hybrid just to come out here and talk to you."

She jumped a little and the sound of Tyler's voice.

She sighed a bit. "Damon and Klaus are…."

"Eccentric."

Even though Bonnie was able to provide Tyler a small smile, a part of her still felt as if she could collapse.

"I know this is hard for you." He leaned beside her. "Trust me, when I first found out what I was… I was freaked the hell out. So, what you're feeling is normal."

"I get that, I do… but it's like everyone I've ever known has been lying to me…well, not telling me the truth. And just learning that I'm supposed to be some key or something and that a lot of people want to see me dead, it's a little too much." And the fact that everything she felt she worked for is about to go down the drain. Her dreams of being a forensic pathologist seemed as if it was about to be nothing but a distant memory, and she couldn't imagine a world where she wasn't going to be one. "And then the lifemate thing…. Damon is…. "

She then realized she was going at a mile a minute, complaining to someone she hadn't seen since her freshman year of high school. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "I bet you think I'm not handling this well."

"Bonnie, trust me, you're handling this better than I did. I found out what I was when I was a freshman in high school. Which I'm sure you put the pieces together because l dropped out of Mystic Falls High. And when I triggered the werewolf side of me it was almost unbearable. I didn't think I was going to make it to my transformation. Hayley and other people from her pack helped me through it, but it wasn't fun. And when I learned about you, I decided to do what I could to keep you safe, because even though all of this happening, you're still my friend, who use to school me in chess." That caused Bonnie to smile. "And you will get through this."

She knew why she had missed Tyler so much. Even through his tough, conceited exterior he had with people; he was a really good listener and an amazing friend to her.

"And this lifemate thing? How do you suppose I get through that?"

"Well as long as you don't have an insane mother breathing down your neck on the fact that you brought home a lifemate of the same sex, you should be fine."

Bonnie smiled. She had an idea that Tyler had been interested in men, but since she hadn't seen him in several years, she never really thought of it again.

"When did you meet him?"

"Three years ago."

"Is he human?"

Tyler shrugged. "You could say that, a human that helps in hunting rogues."

"And are you happy? I mean… that you were destined for this and didn't really have a choice?"

"We do have a choice. It's just harder if you try to resist it, if that makes any sense. But yes, I am happy. Now, we weren't at first. Jeremy, that's his name, we couldn't stand each other. And then one day, things just started to click. He almost died, and I felt… I don't know… he's the love of my life. Bond or not."

Bonnie couldn't help but smile at how genuine Tyler was. It warmed her heart to hear of such love and she could practically feel it radiating off of him.

"And I can understand you tripping out with Damon. He can be very one sided, possessive, conceited….you get the point. But he's saved my life on numerous occasions, even though he had been the cause of it sometimes…" His eyes found hers. "I'm not helping am I?"

"If I didn't pick up on it already from him, then I would say no."

He nodded and smiled. "But look, Bons, all of this is going to take time. And with the lifemate scenario, you _can_ choose to live apart. Look at Caroline and Stefan."

It shouldn't have been news to her, but it was. Caroline and Stefan were lifemates?

Tyler then pulled her into a hug, and kissed her forehead. "Everything will be okay, Bonnie. And no matter what we are always going to be there for you and not because of what's ahead, but you are a very genuine and likeable person."

And apart of her knew that she would always be there for them too. She may have not known everyone or haven't seen everyone in such a long time, but deep down she was feeling a connection with all of them.

"Now let's go back inside, I bet Damon and Klaus are probably going to kill me."

And as soon as they walked back into the back entrance, Klaus and Damon were standing there, but Bonnie just walked passed them and left the three supernatural's to talk amongst themselves.

When she walked back in, every supernatural person here tonight was sitting at the bar. She knew they had heard everything because of their hearing abilities, even though they made it look like they weren't.

Looking at them, she had a feeling she would be spending a lot of time with these people, and with everything going on, she knew that she would have to make the best of it. These people have given up so much of their lives to protect her, so she was going to try her best to make the best of it.

* * *

It took Bonnie a little over a week to wake up comfortable in her bed. She hadn't had a good sleep in quite some time, and it was pleasant to wake up and not feel agitated; on edge. Maybe because for once she hadn't had a dream about her best friend dying, and that in just a couple weeks time the people that had come back in her life were starting to feel like family. It was a little odd to her, how they were all able to click so quickly.

Every day this week, she spent her mornings working out with Rebekah, Hayley, and Tyler, and they even sparred with her; to which she was surprisingly good at. But, sore wasn't the right word to sum up how she felt after the day was over. Taking sit baths with Epson salt didn't help ease her muscles like she thought. She was able to get in lunches and study time with Matt, who was always joined by Katherine, making moon eyes with one another. So, Bonnie was able to get_ her_ studying done. But, as she watched them interact, it still left her curious of lifemates. Katherine and Matt were one, and though Matt didn't even know about this world, she could see how much of a liking he was taking to Katherine.

Klaus, Caroline, and Stefan were helping her with her magic. Granted she felt like she wasn't accomplishing much. She could do a few spells from grimoires that Klaus provided for her that use to be her Grams, but it seemed to be when she were angry or emotional did her magic decide it wanted to work. She got upset one day and gave everyone in the room an aneurysm; definitely not meaning too though. She was able to light candles with her mind sometimes, but though the magic was taking a little longer to accomplish and control, Bonnie was beginning to come to terms with everything.

Well, all but one thing, and that was Damon. Ever since that night at the Pub & Club, he hadn't been around much. She was glad that he was giving her some space, but there was this other part of her that wanted to say fuck your space, invite him into every part of you; mind body and soul.

But that was another headache for another time, she thought as she zoned back into the lunch she was having with Caroline.

"We should definitely go shopping tomorrow!" Caroline exclaimed, taking a bite of her French fries.

Bonnie was glad that she and Caroline mend fences. Actually she was glad that she had stop being such a bitch towards her bubbly friend. She and Caroline had formed such a close bond in all of the years that they had known each other; shared secrets, fears, etc, and even though Caroline told her that their friendship and bond was valid and meant everything to her, Bonnie still couldn't help that she felt that it had all been a lie. But after many crying sessions between both of the girls, they realized that even though Caroline was put in Bonnie's life by her grandmother, she stayed because she was her friend and loved her dearly.

"As long as you finally stop brushing me off on what's going on with you and Stefan."

Caroline paused as they continued to eat.

"Come on Care, it's been over a week and every time we're all in the room together, you avoid him like the plague, _and_ he will not stop staring at you."

"He does not stare at me."

Bonnie shot her a look of are you kidding?

"Stefan and I are a long and boring story that I'm sure you don't want to hear."

"Care, you know absolutely everything about me. I don't mind listening through long and boring…. which I doubt it will be. Now, I know you both are lifemates and I know you have a choice to be together or not, but from what I hear it's painful. So, how does that work for you two?"

Caroline sighed and leaned back in her seat. "It can be sometime. But Stefan and I have been apart for a little over fifty years and before that we were only together for about twenty. Things just started getting out of hand. It just felt like I couldn't breathe without him… and he was becoming insufferable and Stefan had never been that way before. It was annoying. We were both controlling each other. So, we decided to just be apart."

"And that's what you want?"

"Does it really matter? Plus, he's with someone else." Caroline's eyes almost turned red thinking about her.

And Bonnie knew that was her cue to drop it. "Well, Care," She grabbed her hand gently. "If this isn't truly what you want then you should talk with him."

They may have chatted a little bit more on the subject before they dropped it all together, and paid for their lunch and left the café.

"Just never forget that you are always going to be my best friend, Bons." She smiled giving her a hug.

"Sisters for life." They both laughed.

"Bonnie?" Bonnie stilled a bit upon hearing her name, because she knew who it belonged too, and when she sees the glare form in Caroline's eyes, it was all confirmed.

"You know Ben it's pretty pathetic that you can't let go of something you fucked up in the first place."

Ben glared at Caroline, but then ignored her and looked at Bonnie.

"Bonnie, I need to talk to you, it's important." He tried to grab for her hand but she just folded her arms and glared at him.

"Ben, you need to leave me alone."

And just like that the sunshine and warmth they had been experiencing began to cloud over.

"It's not my baby."

Was it stupid that hearing that made Bonnie feel a certain way? A way she couldn't really describe? That this extremely small part of her could put the past behind her and just forget about everything that happened? They were together for several years, and she had this thought to just forgive him and forget it all. But that small inkling of an idea disappeared no sooner than it had appeared.

Because even every time she thought of Ben, it hurt, and even though she wasn't fully over it, she still wanted nothing to do with him.

"April had been sleeping around." He explained. "She actually doesn't even know who the father is." He kind of laughed.

"And you thought what Ben? You thought we could pick up where we left off?" She was actually glad rain began falling from the sky, because it was helping in hiding the fresh tears trying to escape her eyes. And she hated it, because she didn't want to cry over Ben anymore.

"Bonnie, I'm sorry. I regret everything. I can't eat… I can't sleep. I _need _you in my life. I realize what I did was wrong. I realize that I haven't treated you the way you deserve. Like the queen you are." He paused for a moment. "I… I can't let this be over for us. I need us to be okay."

And that was it, she just snapped. "Newsflash Ben, we're never going to be okay! I am _not_ okay! You cheated on me and you got a girl_ pregnant_. You threw away six years of a relationship… an engagement! That's time that I can never get back." She didn't even hear the lightening crackling in the sky. "And you won't leave me alone. You won't give me time to breathe! You are a walking reminder to me that you had another relationship with someone and that I was made a fool of!" She ignored Caroline trying to get her to go. "That everyone was laughing at me behind my back because I was too stupid and naïve to know the truth! So, I am not okay, and I need you to leave me alone!" She paused for a second as the tears streamed out of her eyes. "Please… can you do that, can you just leave me alone… please…?"

Caroline watched the scene playing before her. She watched as day turned to night due to the Bonnie's rage. She watched as the wind picked up and the rain came down harder, and before she could physically yank Bonnie away from Ben, she disappeared.

And yes it startled the hell out of her. She was helping Bonnie to practice her magic and understand her powers better, but it hadn't really been a smooth ride. There was still a lot she needed to learn… a lot that she couldn't do yet. But, seeing her teleport, which was extremely advanced for any witch who _could_ control their powers, she had to admit that that it somewhat terrified her. She hoped that she ended up somewhere safe, because that's all she needed was for her best friend to get in danger and then listen to the wrath of everyone… especially Damon and Klaus.

"Where did she go?" Ben said looking around.

Caroline realized that he didn't even see her disappear. Damn, Bonnie was extremely powerful and she didn't even know it yet. The only other witch Caroline knew that could do a teleporting trick in front of anyone and their memory be erased instantly was Sheila Bennett. Bonnie was definitely going to take after her grandmother.

"Caroline…"

Caroline could tell by the look in Ben's eyes, that he was in pain, but honestly, she didn't care. "You made her run off."

"I love her so much."

"You don't love her. You don't get to love someone like Bonnie! She was too good for you! Did she make you feel better about your miserable life? That after you came back from fucking other females you could still look her right in the eye and she could tell you that you're worth it? But you're not worth it! You didn't love her. You don't destroy the person you love." She then pulled him by his collar off the ground and moved him into the ally, looking him straight in the eye. "You stay the hell away from Bonnie. You don't come near her anymore." She then punched him and sped away, not paying attention to the pair of eyes that saw everything.

* * *

Damon dropped everything and rushed over to Bonnie when she appeared right in the center of Damon's penthouse apartment.

He picked her up instantly, not caring about the flames in his candles flicking on and off and a few of his books falling off its shelves. When he sat her on his bed, she clutched onto his shirt for dear life, afraid to let go. And when her eyes connected with his, something stung in his chest. Something in her eyes; the confusion, the vulnerability and especially the strength she had, felt as if it were surging inside of him. Damon would never admit this to anyone but he never wanted her to let him go.

It took him a few minutes to get her to calm down out of her death grip.

"How did I get here?" She asked, releasing him, and looking around.

"You missed me so much you decided to use your witchy magic to teleport yourself here." Damon joked, even though he was really concerned for her. He could tell that she had been crying and also he knew how her progress was going with magic, from Klaus, Caroline, and Stefan, and she hadn't grown this far.

"I teleported?" Confusion was written all over her face. She never imagined that she would be able to do anything like that, but that had to be why she felt dizzy and like she was experiencing an outer body experience or something.

"You want to tell me what happened?"

"I really don't know." She admitted, trying to replay everything in her head. "Caroline and I were having lunch and then we left the café and ran into Ben, and I don't know… I just got upset because he wouldn't leave me alone."

"I can kill him for you… make it look like an accident."

The look she gave him quickly shut that thought up.

Damon just shrugged. "I guess that's where the random freak storm came from?"

She nodded. "I really don't know what I'm doing." She admitted. "My life was fairly decent, granted my fiancé cheated on me, my grandmother died, and my parents…" She stopped herself, realizing she was rambling and complaining to a complete stranger… even though Damon wasn't really a stranger anymore. "Maybe I'm really not cut out for this."

"You just found out who you were about a month ago, and that waste of space broke you down among all of that, do you really think you're supposed to have it all together right away?"

"That's how it's always been for me. I expect to be good at everything I do. Always make A's, get into one of the top schools, and just be better than the best….I can't afford not to be."

"Let me tell you something about life, coming from someone who is fairly older." She gave him a look that read 'no kidding'. "You don't have to have it all together."

She waited for him to continue, but he didn't. "That's it?"

"That's it. You don't have to have it all together. You don't have to kill yourself with stress and think that you have to have it all figured out when you don't. You waste living by doing so. You waste the most memorable moments by worrying about everything. Learn to take it one day at a time."

"And if we don't have time?"

"Trust me when I say, we have all the time in the world." And he left out the little part was that sooner or later he was going to turn her. He wasn't going to allow her to die. Sure, he would let her use the aging spell Sheila used, but it wasn't going to last forever, so his decision was already made whether she liked it or not.

"And the part about me being on death's list?

His eyes connected intently on hers, and he grabbed his hand, putting it on his chest, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

She let her hand stay there. "And what about you?" Because she didn't want anything to happen to him either. She wouldn't necessarily come out and tell him though.

"Nothing is going to happen to me either. I've been alive for over four hundred years. I plan to stay alive way longer than that."

They stayed in that position for awhile. They didn't even realize that they were finding needed comfort in one another. But after awhile of just sitting there staring at one another, Damon decided to run Bonnie a bath and give her some privacy.

Bonnie had no idea how long she had been in Damon's bath tub; a tub that seemed bigger than her bedroom and bathroom put together. It not only eased her aching muscles from trainings these past couple of weeks but it also eased the headache she had acquired from earlier.

She almost didn't want to get out, but when she finally did, she made her way back into his bedroom to put on the clothes he laid out for her. Well, the oversized t-shirt that came down to her knees. Did he really expect her to not wear any pants or underwear? After searching through his drawers, she found a pair of boxers that she had to perform a miracle just to keep them around her hips, returned the thousand texts from Caroline, informing her that she was okay and that she was with Damon, and then made her way into the living room

Without the candles lit in his living room, it would have been pitch dark.

"Damon?"

He appeared right behind her, caressing gently down her arms. She automatically jumped and a few more books fell off the shelf again. "What are you doing?" Bonnie tried her best to sound stern, but her words were lost as his hands moved their way up and down her arms.

"I'm going to help you with your magic."

"By trying to seduce me?"

She didn't have to see his signature smirk to know that he was doing it. "Trust me, when I try to seduce you, you'll know."

And even with that declaration, she knew she would probably never be ready for it.

Before she could do or say anything else, she was kneeling down in front of what looked like another grimoire in the middle of the floor, with Damon behind her. She was practically sitting on his lap, and yet, she didn't see herself moving anytime soon.

"Close your eyes." Velvet silk. Why did his voice always have to feel like velvet silk tickling along her skin?

When she did close her eyes, she could feel his breath caressing alongside her ear. "Now, concentrate to move the couch behind you."

How was that going to be possible? She immediately opened her eyes and glanced over her shoulder. If she were to move just a few inches over, their lips would have touched.

"How am I supposed to do that? I thought we were lighting candles."

"The candles are already lit genius. You've already got that down. Time to move on to bigger things." His lips then touched her ear. "Now, Eyes. Closed."

Instant heat formed between her legs before she rolled her eyes and closed them.

She concentrated on the couch _behind_ her. She didn't even know how this was going to work. She could barely light candles right now. She caused freak storms when she was angry and upset; apparently adding teleportation in the mix, but now when she was actually concentrating she couldn't do it.

"You can do this, Bonnie."

And also she had a betrothed vampire sitting behind her and touching her. How was she really supposed to concentrate and get anything done? But after letting her thoughts run wild, she was finally able to take some deep breaths. She began to feel not only Damon behind her, but everything in the room becoming more alive, every sound, every smell…. It was intoxicating.

And then she heard Damon's voice. "Look." She opened her eyes to not only see the couch behind her floating, but the couch in front of her, as well as the bookshelves joining in.

Her smile was authentic. It really made her happy that she was able to do something other than lighting candles and almost setting apartments on fire. She actually felt for the first time that she was going to get a handle on everything.

And when he led her to the guest room, because time got away with them and she was drained, the smile stayed formed on her lips.

"Thank you," She lied in bed. "For today." Her hands automatically intertwined with his.

He nodded. Damon insisted she sleep in his room with him, but she felt extremely buzzed off of the magic, and felt it would be safer to sleep alone.

"Don't get a big head or anything, but I've missed having you around this past week. I don't know why, but I've been around everyone else but you, and…."

He squeezed onto her hand gently, lightly brushing along her fingers. "Just trying to keep my distance. But I still watch you when you think I'm not there."

Her eyes connected with his once more before they closed.

"Usually I would be completely grossed out from hearing that, but I always know when you're there."

His lips actually formed into a small smile.

"Good night, Bonnie."

"Good night, Damon."

And though she fell asleep instantly, he didn't leave the guest room just yet. He didn't know if it were just the idea of being lifemates, since they hadn't bonded yet, or if it was just her in general, but he was definitely feeling something for this woman.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and hopefully it wasn't that confusing and hopefully you're all still interested! The scene with Bonnie, Caroline, and Ben was inspired from a few scenes in Grey's Anatomy. But, anywho, I would love to read your thoughts! Please review. And if you have any questions, just ask! =)**


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